A shorter model of this piece was initially revealed by the Floor Navy Affiliation. This longer adaptation is revealed with permission.
By CDR Anthony LaVopa, USN
Throughout my early days as a Division Head on USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000), my Govt Officer suggested me to succeed in out to Professor Jim FitzSimonds and the Halsey Alfa group on the Naval Struggle School. He urged, “Decide their brains and take in every thing you possibly can.” At the moment, I had no concept how profoundly this publicity to the Halsey Program would refine my understanding of tactical, operational, and strategic subjects. I didn’t anticipate the extent to which it might problem my data and assumptions about U.S. capabilities, techniques, and power employment, in addition to these of our adversaries. My participation within the Halsey Alfa program, which has targeted on warfare with China for greater than 20 years, turned one of the vital important and impactful studying experiences of my profession. I consider this vital, analytical, and academic alternative must be necessary for each unrestricted line officer within the Navy.
With the addition of the Halsey Bravo Program, targeted on battle eventualities with Iran, the Halsey Program leverages material specialists and employs steady free-play, iterative wargaming to coach college students. Working three, ten-week wargames annually, the Halsey Program has accomplished a couple of hundred wargames mixed throughout each Alfa and Bravo since 2003. This massive base of wargaming expertise has created a wealth of precious perception on operational warfighting, with OPNAV, flag officers, and senior leaders usually consuming outputs from the Halsey program.
After commanding USS Hurricane (PC 3) and serving at OPNAV N96, I acknowledged that collaborating within the Halsey Superior Analysis Program (ARP) on the Naval Struggle School was important earlier than returning to sea and assuming command. I sought to problem myself in each side as a naval officer and warfighter, aiming to sharpen my operational eye – and produce that mindset to my subsequent command. The Halsey program is significant for cultivating the vital considering and tactical ability required for pacing the fast evolution of recent naval warfare. By successfully bridging theoretical data with sensible software by rigorous wargaming, it prepares naval and joint officers to navigate the complexities of high-end battle in opposition to a peer competitor.
Why Wargame?
Replicating real-world battle, particularly on the excessive finish, is inherently difficult. Wargaming stands out as one of the vital time-tested and efficient strategies for doing so, providing a sensible method for naval officers to follow their craft. It fosters vital thought and discussions about capabilities, limitations, theater geography, the strengths and weaknesses of allies and companions, and the dynamics of combating peer rivals, making it the premier technique for simulating warfare. In distinction, workouts carried out at sea or with different branches of the Joint Pressure, allies, or companions usually seize solely restricted features of high-end battle inside a rigorously managed surroundings. Warfare is inherently advanced, involving the mixing of a number of domains and complicated kill chains. At its core, warfare requires a deep understanding of expertise and the artistic software of that data to defeat adversaries. Wargaming serves as an efficient framework for exploring these complexities. Profitable warfare planning, operational execution, and future methods acquisition ought to hinge on related fight info, collected operational expertise, and the conclusions reached in sequence of wargames.
Wargaming facilitates important discussions on assessing dangers to each power and mission. When launched in a joint and partnered surroundings, it helps dispel myths and inaccurate assumptions – inherently harmful beliefs and variables when found “in touch.” Evaluation of examination knowledge from new college students within the Halsey Program reveals that many officers lack ample data of area integration and have even much less familiarity with competitor methods and capabilities.
Wargaming is not like some other recreation. There are not any easy guidelines for both aspect and no pre-defined outcomes. There appear to be three main areas in wargaming that I’ve noticed after virtually two years within the Halsey Program: the operational surroundings (the sport board) which is pushed by the strategic context of politics and a need to include battle, the pleasant and opposing forces (the sport items), particularly what forces exist and the way they transfer, and the third space is the principles of power interplay (fight evaluation components). The brilliance of the Halsey expertise is that politics, coverage, paperwork, and different components are additionally mentioned, however on the finish of the day, the sport’s outcomes are pushed by what’s technologically attainable. The outcomes may also help inform policymakers, acquisition professionals, and naval commanders on what the artwork of the attainable might and must be.
Many guests to the Halsey areas typically ask whether or not the U.S. wins or loses. They’re on the lookout for a particular reply and a “recipe card” for achievement. Though successful or dropping is advanced based mostly on which metrics and aims all sides is given, the true gold mine of perception in additional than twenty years of Halsey wargaming is the set of recognized components that the majority strongly affect the prospects of pink or blue victory specifically domains. These fight interactions between forces are probably the most advanced as a result of the web assessments between pink and blue entities are sometimes game-specific and dependent upon a private viewpoint – life like or optimistic. This isn’t to counsel {that a} wargame is wholly subjective, however reasonably it may be restricted in effectiveness based mostly on the bounds of participant data and expertise, in addition to the management crew’s potential to know and adjudicate power interactions based mostly on recognized and confirmed capabilities. A singular and biased viewpoint has the potential to influence the complete recreation, from the conduct of the sport, to the adjudication of power interactions, and the outcomes reached.
The essence of a wargame lies within the evaluation course of itself. This course of can not happen in isolation or in small teams missing transparency, particularly when safety classification limits collaboration. An inclusive dialogue, carried out on the acceptable classification degree, is crucial for shaping recreation assumptions and figuring out outcomes. It’s essential to acknowledge that the fleet and joint power primarily function on the Secret degree. Whereas some people might have entry to increased classification packages and capabilities, a “black field mentality” shouldn’t dictate wargame outcomes. This mentality can introduce important uncertainty and unwarranted optimism, leaving gamers unable to evaluate the validity of the capabilities in query. In each wargames and real-world operations, gamers should prioritize managing uncertainty to reinforce mission effectiveness whereas sustaining acceptable threat to power. Beautiful capabilities that aren’t built-in with extra widespread techniques or should not adequately skilled may be detrimental, offering a false sense of confidence that will finally trigger extra hurt than good.
Typically, army capabilities are seen in a sterile, non-human method—as mere applied sciences tied to particular platforms delivering outlined results. This attitude fails to seize the fact of warfare, the place human instinct and judgment, formed by years of expertise, drive tactical and operational selections. Wargaming can illuminate the asymmetrical technological benefits of various sides, nevertheless it additionally gives essential perception into the human factor of decision-making, particularly in advanced, full-spectrum warfare. The expertise ought to immerse gamers in psychological, emotional, and psychological stress as they pursue their aims and assist them perceive how this stress influences operational decision-making.
Many assume that peacetime guidelines and Command and Management (C2) buildings will operate successfully in future conflicts, but skepticism persists, notably relating to the Composite Warfare Commander (CWC) mannequin. Initially designed to defend service strike teams and their air wings, the CWC has marginally developed however stays the default construction for operations—prioritizing capital ship protection to hopefully allow offensive energy projection. Nonetheless, if the service and air wing are faraway from the equation, what C2 construction greatest helps a transition to an offensive marketing campaign at sea? A key goal of wargaming is to discover the connection between expertise and human decision-making and take a look at alternate options. This skillset can’t be developed in just some days, it requires weeks or months of devoted examine of adversarial capabilities, employment strategies, and C2 processes to know how greatest to counter capabilities or change our personal. In essence, efficient wargaming not solely challenges our assumptions about army operations, but additionally cultivates the vital considering and flexibility wanted to navigate the complexities of future battle.
The Essence of the Halsey Program
The Halsey program’s core values are an absolute allegiance to actuality and a deep skepticism of each technological and operational capabilities – by all sides – that haven’t but been confirmed in peer fight. These values align properly with the teachings of historical past and the way unproven capabilities introduce main uncertainty and threat when high-end fight lastly takes place. One other core worth of this system is growing deep experience in capabilities of rivals. It’s difficult to distill practically two years of expertise into a couple of pages, however the alternative to spend devoted time each day studying and studying in regards to the Individuals’s Liberation Military (PLA) and its parts (Navy, Air Pressure, Rocket Pressure) has been professionally rewarding, and I consider useful as I flip my focus to returning to sea in command.
Sadly, I’m within the three-percent membership on the Naval Struggle School. Lower than three p.c of the in-residence, non-international graduates annually may be concerned with the Halsey packages, particularly the flexibility to wargame on the labeled degree. Unclassified wargames can obtain a few of the vital considering results of a labeled wargame, however should not ample to successfully assess real-world technique and fight outcomes. It’s perplexing that in a time of heightened tensions with the Chinese language Communist Celebration, particularly relating to claims over Taiwan and the South China Sea, that nearly 97 p.c of my friends from the Naval Struggle School can undergo a yr’s curriculum of Joint Skilled Navy Schooling (JPME) on the Navy’s premier strategic and operational heart of excellence with solely restricted labeled discussions, no requirement to conduct internet assessments on the labeled degree, nor conduct any labeled wargames.
The continuing evaluation and schooling within the Halsey program, facilitated by steady wargames, have revealed a number of key developments. The developments are relevant on the operational degree of warfare – which means, the potential success of a tactical-level engagement is overshadowed by the impact on the operational degree of a marketing campaign. The explanation these developments are important is that not like many different wargames, Halsey solely video games two years into the longer term. This prevents a sequence of “completely executed acquisition cycles” from impacting the sport. The scholars go to warfare with the army we have already got.
Two of the most important developments I’ve noticed embrace the lowering relevance of the plane service and tactical plane based mostly inside 2,000nm of the battle, in addition to hardkill cruise and ballistic missile defenses. There was an inflection level that occurred someplace across the mid-2010s that triggered the lowering relevance of those U.S. capabilities and techniques based mostly on advances in PLA missile expertise.
Nonetheless, the 2 largest developments I’ve noticed for rising relevance are penetrating ordnance reasonably than penetrating platforms, and passive missile defenses. In his July 2012 Proceedings article “Payloads Over Platforms: Charting A New Course,” then-CNO Admiral Greenert clearly articulated the need to shift our focus to payloads, particularly decoupling platform growth from payload growth.1 That shift has but to happen, and whereas our peer competitor continues to prove one anti-ship weapon after one other, we’re nonetheless struggling to carry significant, offensive, anti-ship payloads into the fleet on a related timeline.
Wargaming Should Result in a Struggle Mindset
The first expectation of a wargame is to provide quantifiable proof of whether or not the employed expertise successfully achieved desired outcomes. Nonetheless, probably the most vital side is making certain these outcomes attain the suitable ranges to affect the fleet extra broadly. Hardly ever if ever are the findings from the International sequence of wargames communicated on the tactical degree throughout the fleet, whilst we attempt for a “warfighting first” mentality.
As a part of the Halsey program, we transient each Potential Govt Officer (PXO), Commanding Officer (PCO), and Main Commander (MCO) course on the Floor Warfare Colleges Command (SWSC) in Newport, Rhode Island. The constant suggestions from these courses is, “I want somebody within the fleet was sharing this info. Why aren’t we utilizing it?” Regardless of difficult college students to critique our analyses, not one has been capable of finding fault in over twenty-five briefings, supported by greater than twenty years of steady gaming and studying.
Merely encouraging a war-focused mindset with phrases alone is inadequate. For the common sailor or officer, “warfare” typically interprets to routine upkeep, administrative duties, or unit-level certifications. We have to create alternatives for sailors to assume critically about warfare and wargaming, fostering discussions that result in significant coaching and schooling. Whereas deploying items take part within the culminating month-long occasion generally known as COMPUTEX (Composite Unit Coaching Train), that is arguably the only occasion throughout a 36-month Optimized Fleet Response Plan (OFRP) the place they expertise a difficult tactical surroundings on the high-end, mixed arms degree. Other than that fraction of sailors who’re about to deploy, many different shoreside sailors have little entry to instruments for working towards their high-end warfighting expertise on the operational degree of warfare.
If the Naval Struggle School is really the Navy’s premier heart for strategic and operational excellence, its wargaming outcomes should permeate all ranges of fleet schooling. The fleet-wide curriculum throughout all coaching instructions must be adaptable to include steady updates on techniques and expertise from each U.S. forces and peer adversaries. With out this integration of information and a mindset targeted on getting ready for warfare, the outputs of the Halsey program and the Naval Struggle School threat changing into merely PowerPoint displays of excellent concepts, wargaming outcomes, and suggestions to commanders. In a 1912 Proceedings article, “The Strategic Naval Struggle Sport or Chart Maneuver,” Captain W. McCarty Little writes, “Within the recreation of warfare, the stake is life itself, nay, infinitely higher, it could be the lifetime of the nation, definitely its honor. We’re its champions: what kind of a determine we could lower when, on the event, the trumpets sound the cost, and it’s discovered that now we have uncared for to follow within the joust.”2
For me, returning to the fleet means making use of my Halsey expertise from day one, simply as I did throughout my earlier command tour. I view every thing by a warfighting lens. On Hurricane, I inspired my sailors to know the importance of their every day actions from this angle. After we confronted degraded tools, the main target was not simply on repairs however on understanding the implications for warfighting functionality. This empowered my crew to prioritize successfully and lift points that didn’t align with our warfighting tradition, enabling me to handle issues that may in any other case be seen as mere useful resource drains. Returning to sea, I’ll anticipate the wardroom and CPO mess to share this mindset as we put together our ship and crew, highlighting the important distinction between management and administration – main folks versus managing tools and course of. This warfighting focus on the unit degree is as essential now because it was on December 7, 1941.
The Proper Gamers on the Discipline
Throughout the interwar interval of the Twenties and Nineteen Thirties, the Naval Struggle School used a Halsey program-like strategy to coach its line officers by steady wargaming. This educational effort was coupled with fleet workouts to set off adjustments to techniques and produce life like warfare plans. Resulting from this construction and energy, practically all of the Navy’s flag officers graduated from the wargaming packages through the interwar interval. It was primarily a requirement for flag rank. These packages supplied a vital discussion board for testing and socializing warfighting ideas into naval officers over weeks or months, reasonably than the handful of days typical of present large-scale video games.
Finally, the mannequin used within the interwar years was profitable as a result of the gamers concerned within the recreation revered actuality and have been keen to make important adjustments within the face of fixing expertise and operational ideas. These wargames introduced Navy management collectively round widespread frameworks for understanding fleet battles and theater campaigns, frameworks that proved integral to the Navy’s success in WWII. One in all Admiral Nimitz’s most well-known postwar quotes argued that the rigorous and repeated Naval Struggle School wargaming had ensured “nothing that occurred through the warfare was a shock…besides the kamikaze techniques.”3
Sadly, this mannequin has lengthy been deserted by the Naval Struggle School and the fleet, with labeled wargaming now relegated to the fringes of naval schooling. In his January 2013 Proceedings article, Naval Struggle School Professor Milan Vego wrote that, “The Navy’s readiness and skill to battle and win at sea depends upon the standard and expertise of its high commanders and their staffs—but it doesn’t ship many promising officers to attend the resident program at Newport, Rhode Island’s, Naval Struggle School. Immediately’s Navy officer corps’ data and understanding of naval concept and army historical past is way from sufficient.”4 The Halsey program helps to show the tide, however at a small and insufficient fee.
The flexibility to additional scale the Halsey program is restricted by the quantity and high quality of the warfare faculty school and the flexibility to precisely assess advanced recreation strikes. The rudder must be put arduous over as we put together for high-end battle in opposition to a peer competitor, doubtlessly inside this decade. The fast advances in warfare signify a double-edged sword to be leveraged or victimized by. The data and expertise I’ve gained as a pupil in Halsey has been invaluable – and has set a course of continuous studying that may endure once I depart Newport. Day by day discussions with officers, school, and visitor flag and normal officers have enhanced my expertise on the Naval Struggle School past expectation. It’s this expertise that continues to drive my thirst for data, understanding, and analysis. It drives me to share what I do know with wardrooms, prepared rooms, and everybody with whom I work together. Within the spirit of CNO Admiral Franchetti’s “extra gamers on the sphere,” the Navy additionally wants the proper gamers on the sphere. The Halsey program prepares naval and joint officers to be the proper gamers on the sphere for when it issues most.
Commander Anthony LaVopa graduated from the U.S. Naval Struggle School in March 2024 as a Halsey Alfa Fellow. He commanded USS Hurricane (PC 3) and is the Potential Govt Officer (P-XO) for USS Bulkeley (DDG 84).
The opinions expressed are introduced in a private capability and don’t essentially signify the official views of the U.S. Navy or some other entity of the U.S. authorities.
References
1. Admiral Jonathan W. Greenert, “Payloads over Platforms: Charting a New Course,” Proceedings 138 (July 2012),
2. W. McCarty Little, “The Strategic Naval Struggle Sport or Chart Maneuver,” Proceedings 38 (December 1912),
3. Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz speech to U.S. Naval Struggle School, 10 October 1960, Folder 26, Field 31, RG15 Visitor Lectures, 1894–1992, Naval Historic Assortment, Naval Struggle School, Newport RI; quoted in John M. Lillard, Enjoying Struggle: Wargaming and U.S. Navy Preparations for WWII, PhD dissertation, George Mason College, 2013, 1.
4. Milan Vego, “Research Struggle A lot Extra,” Proceedings 139 (January 2013),
Featured Picture: PLA Navy Sort-055 guided-missile destroyer Wuxi connected to a unit beneath the PLA Northern Theater Command steams to a chosen sea space throughout a maritime coaching train. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photograph by Wang Zezhou)
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