Army kicks off annual war game
Over 350 military and civilian experts have gathered for the Army's annual war game, called Unified Quest, at the war college in Carlisle, Pa. The goal of the weeklong event is to improve the Army's ability to understand and fight irregular wars, such as those in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Balkans, while handling multiple competing demands around the world and at home.
The game directors of the Trading and Doctrine Command have designed the most complicated game yet, which will be used to revise Army doctrine. They collected insights from officers at all levels who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. Members of the Navy, Marines, and Air Force are also taking part, as are officials from other U.S. government agencies and allied countries.
The game design of Unified Quest 06 includes three scenarios, or cases. The main case (case A) is an irregular conflict in a fictional Islamic country on the Caucasian Sea, which was "created" via negotiated partition after last year's game ended in a stalemate. The U.S.-led coalition is now trying to stabilize and repair the newly formed country, the South East European Federation, and confront two internal insurgencies and continuing threats from neighboring Redland, which is supported by an al Qaeda-like global terrorist movement.
Another part of the game (case B) is a worldwide scenario of competing crises, the purpose of which is to test the Army's ability to respond to demands for troops and determine the weak points of its current deployment (or force generation) model. A panel of retired officers role-play as national decision makers to determine which of the natural disasters and political crises in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America require a U.S. or allied response and which ones can or must be ignored.
A third part of the game (case C) involves crises in the U.S. homeland that may require assistance from the U.S. military: a "loose nuke" scenario involving a weapon stolen from the fractured Redland's arsenal, a catastrophic earthquake, and severe weather and fuel shortages.
In sum, Unified Quest poses a series of difficult challenges not too different from those the United States confronts today. Updates by U.S.News & World Report this week at www.usnews.com will show how the U.S. military copes with them.
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