17 April 2010

JLASS Wargame Getting Underway for US Forces

The military war colleges are ramping up their big joint wargame for the year.

Using the theme, “World on the Brink,” students from five military senior level colleges unite at Maxwell Air Force Base to train the way they fight.

The 27th annual Joint Land, Aerospace and Sea Simulation, or JLASS, wargame kicks off this week at the LeMay Center’s Air Force Doctrine Development and Education’s Air Force Wargaming Institute. It runs through Wednesday.

George Daniels, deputy director, War Fighting Applications, said JLASS originated to promote joint professional military education. He said students from Air War College, the Army War College, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Marine Corps War College and Naval War College will participate in the five-day engagement.

Army Col. Sam White, this year’s JLASS wargame director, said the major objective is for students to address key issues at the strategic and operational levels of war and enhance awareness of the interagency process, combined/joint staff and unified command issues.

“The students will be using diplomacy and combined forces to execute national and theater-level strategies, which also helps each school meet their specific learning objectives,” Colonel White said.

Steve Crawford, a Northrup Grumman contractor lead in his 17th JLASS game, said 109 students, 34 faculty members from the colleges and an additional 100 controllers, administrators and information technology staff members are teaming up for the drill. He said the exercise is a two-sided, computer-supported wargame that takes place 10 years in the future. This year, Homeland Security events and issues will be more emphasized, as well as mobility and reserve mobilization issues, with three additional lesser contingency scenarios.

Mr. Crawford said the Joint Land, Aerospace and Sea Simulation helps future senior leaders develop strategic and operational skills and also enhances student-to-student interaction, which is consistently listed as one of the high points during student and faculty feedback sessions.


By: Brant

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