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| Wargaming Division, Marine Corps University | |
|---|---|
| Name | Wargaming Division, Marine Corps University |
| Established | 1999 |
| Type | Military educational unit |
| Parent | Marine Corps University |
| Location | Quantico, Virginia |
Wargaming Division, Marine Corps University is a professional wargaming organization within Marine Corps University located at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. It supports operational planning, campaign analysis, and professional military education for the United States Marine Corps, interacting with institutions such as the Naval War College, Army War College, National Defense University, RAND Corporation, and Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The Division traces roots to formalized wargaming practices established after the World War II period when institutions like the Naval War College and the Rand Corporation advanced wargaming techniques used during the Korean War and Vietnam War, later integrating methods from John Boyd's decision-cycle concepts and H. G. Wells's early demonstration games. During the post-Cold War era the Division adapted innovations influenced by the Goldwater–Nichols Act reforms, the operational lessons of Operation Desert Storm, and doctrinal shifts following the Global War on Terrorism, collaborating with centers such as the Joint Staff and the Marine Corps Combat Development Command.
The Division's mission centers on educating leaders, testing concepts, and informing doctrine through wargaming linked to the Commandant of the Marine Corps priorities, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff guidance, and the National Military Strategy. It provides decision advantage to commanders by supporting force design debates related to Marine Corps Force Design 2030, operational experiments echoing lessons from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, and campaign modeling aligned with strategies from the Indo-Pacific Command and European Command.
The Division is organized into sections that reflect functions seen at professional institutions: a gaming design cell similar to staff at the Naval Postgraduate School, an analytical cell comparable to teams at RAND Corporation and the Center for Naval Analyses, and an educational cell coordinating with the Command and Staff College and the School of Advanced Warfighting. Leadership liaises with the Marine Corps University Press, the Joint Forces Staff College, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense to synchronize wargame objectives, while subject-matter experts are drawn from communities represented by the Infantry Officers Course, Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One, and the Marine Corps Systems Command.
Curriculum offerings mirror professional programs found at the Army War College, the Naval War College, and the School of Advanced Military Studies, featuring courses on campaign design, operational art, and scenario development informed by case studies from the Pacific Theater (World War II), the Falklands War, and the Gulf War. The Division runs resident wargame electives for students attending the Command and Staff College and online modules coordinated with the Marine Corps University Professional Military Education Continuum, while hosting seminars with veterans of Operation Urgent Fury, analysts from Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and planners from the Joint Staff J7.
Research outputs combine analytic studies, monographs, and after-action reports that contribute to debates framed by publications like the Naval War College Review and the Joint Force Quarterly, and draw on methodologies from scholars at King's College London, Harvard Kennedy School, and Georgetown University. Topics include wargame design theory influenced by the work of Colin Gray, campaign modeling applied to scenarios in the South China Sea, and assessments of force employment reflecting inquiries into air-sea battle concepts and distributed maritime operations.
Facilities include a dedicated wargaming center at Marine Corps Base Quantico equipped with secure briefing suites, battle simulators, and modeling tools comparable to those used at the Center for Naval Analyses and the Naval Research Laboratory. Resources encompass a professional library aligned with holdings at the National War College, software licenses for simulation tools used by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency programs, and access to classified intelligence feeds coordinated through the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
The Division partners with academic institutions such as the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, the University of California, San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Security Studies Program, and engages think tanks including the Brookings Institution, Heritage Foundation, and Atlantic Council. It conducts collaborative wargames with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, and allied militaries from partners such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan, and participates in multinational exercises like RIMPAC and Talisman Sabre.
Category:Marine Corps University Category:Wargaming Category:United States Marine Corps