Naval War College Faculty Play Role in Inter-American War Game 2012

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS120702-09
7/2/2012

From U.S. Naval War College Public Affairs

BOGATA, Colombia (NNS) -- U.S. Naval War College (NWC) faculty joined with participants from western hemisphere war colleges for the second phase of the 38th Inter-American War Game (IAWG 2012), hosted this year by the Colombian War College, or Escuela Superior de Guerra, June 19-29.

Occurring annually since 1972, the Inter-American War Game is an operational, one-sided, distributed war game held among 14 participating Western Hemisphere war colleges.

The war game is a forum for sharing insights and mutual understanding among naval professionals. Specific game objectives included an exploration of command and control, rules on the use of force, and planning considerations in a multinational environment.

"The IAWG 2012 is the result of an important effort made not just for the Colombian team, but all the naval war colleges who have participated and pursued many years in making this important event," said Capt. Daniel Rojas, chief of the Naval Department at the Colombian War College, and game director of the 2012 Inter-American War Game. "The game seeks to identify interoperability problems, gain mutual understanding, and facilitate the internationalization of the naval education in each country."

Inter-American War Game members include many countries throughout the Americas, including: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

"This year the participation has been numerous, a fact that indicates the success of the event and the importance that the game has won in the continent," said Rojas.

Cmdr. Dustin Martin and Cmdr. Jeff Uhde and Prof. Shawn Burns, all from NWC's War Gaming Department, participated as Game Control Group members.

"One of the key lessons of the game from the U.S. point of view was the need to have a plan for how to share information, such as a shared common operational picture, with non-traditional partner nations, especially when those partners are identified after U.S. forces sail," said Martin. "We need back-up plans for how we'll share information on-the-fly during deployments."

The superb execution of the game reflected the diligent work by the Colombian War College planning, coordinating, and executing this multinational event.

Throughout IAWG 2012, the participants explore topics such as the applicability of international law, piracy, terrorism, drug trafficking and the impact of natural disasters in these scenarios, as well as peacekeeping operations, humanitarian assistance and pollution from oil spills.

Next year's 2013 Inter-American War Game will be hosted by the U.S. Naval War College.