The Instruments of Power: A Computer-Assisted Game for the Acsc Curriculum

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The ACSC curriculum could benefit from the addition of wargaming that focuses on teaching students about the employment of the national instruments of power (IOPs). Wargames and exercises addressing the relationships among the IOPs are available from both Government and commercial sources; however, they are often complex, resource intensive, time consuming to play, and/or not well suited for use on the scale required for all ACSC students to participate. As a result, they may not fit well within a time-constrained curriculum. Creating a game to fill this need is the purpose of this joint research project. This paper examines the need for strategic-level wargaming at ACSC, proposes requirements for a game to satisfy this need, and describes the game’s software design. In a companion paper, LCDR Brian Tolbert, USN, addresses development of the game’s rules, the political/military principles upon which they are based, play testing of the game, and recommendations for future game enhancements. By creating and testing the prototype, the overall feasibility of the concept can be evaluated without a costly and labor-intensive software development effort. Future versions could either directly build upon this work or be expanded into a professionally developed software suite.