Sunday 23 September 2018

How the military utilises commercial wargames

Staff Officers playing a tabletop wargame
"Professional uses of simulators and games have successfully been employed in military education for centuries. In wargaming, the focus is on examining conflict in an artificial environment and on the exercise of human decision making." Three papers about how the military utilises commercial wargames.  Here are the links for paper No.  one, two, three.

Thursday 13 September 2018

Teaching and learning the Operational Art of War

Diagram explaining where Strategy, Tactics & Operational Art overlap
An Appraisal of Advanced Military Studies by Major John F. Gifford. "In general, the term operational art is misleading, because it implies that it deals only with practice. However, like strategy and tactics, operational art is both an art and a science. Each component of military art demands reflection, study, and practical application. The art aspect means that operational art, like the other two components, is ambiguous and imprecise, requiring a creative and highly innovative approach to its application. Therefore, the term operations would be more appropriate.

Tuesday 4 September 2018

Historical perspectives of the Operational Art

King Wilhelm I on a black horse with his suite, Bismarck, Moltke, Roon, and others, watching the Battle of Königgrätz" ... a unique study in the field of military history ... This study deals only with land warfare and is designed to show the doctrinal development and application of operational art in modern history. " From the Preface of the authors of this interesting collection of case studies.