Photo By Cpl. Michael Bartman | Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Christopher Mahoney congratulates...... read more read more
The Marine Corps dedicated a new building May 31 which will serve as the epicenter for next-generation wargaming and analysis. The General Robert B. Neller Center for Wargaming and Analysis, named in honor of the 37th Commandant of the Marine Corps, is a premier facility that is vitally important to the future of wargaming both at the Service and Joint levels.
In 2017, then-Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen Robert Neller directed the establishment of a world-class facility where Marines from across the country could wargame repeatedly in a secure, centralized location and enhance their ability to make analytically informed decisions.
“The Marine Corps has a long history of wargaming from the development of amphibious doctrine…up to today when we’ve looked at wargaming to test op plans, force generation, force structure. It’s always been part of what we do,” said Neller.
Encompassing 100,446 gross square feet, the Neller Center is the largest facility of its kind in the National Capital Region, allowing for multiple wargames at multiple classification levels to be played out simultaneously. The Center is located on the Marine Corps University campus and will be maintained and operated by the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory. With a staff of 183, a mix of uniformed members, civilians and contractors, the Center will be able to create five cross-functional wargame teams with the goal of developing four wargames per team per year. The Center also aims to accommodate unexpected Joint wargaming tasks and requirements.
“Perhaps even more important is what the Neller Center truly buys us,” said Gen. Christopher Mahoney, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, during his speech at the dedication. “In a security environment that has become less certain by the day, it buys us a higher level of certainty. It buys us the chance to make mistakes in an environment where the cost isn’t paid in blood by our Marines.”
The facility will feature next-generation technologies to expand the optic of the multi-domain terrain across time and distance and incorporate Joint and Coalition assets, providing more realistic scenarios resulting in more accurate outcomes. The analysis that is drawn from these results will help give the Marine Corps a more precise picture of the tools warfighters need to be more effective and more lethal. In turn, the Marine Corps can better refine and translate its requirements to industry faster.
“This is not about a building. This is about an enhanced capability that allows our warfighters the opportunity to hash out the challenges of a multi-domain battlefield and become more competent more quickly before going to the training area or actual combat,” said Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl, Deputy Commandant, Combat Development and Integration.
Wargaming through simulation does not replace field training but allows warfighters to work through complex tactical and operational problems while saving valuable resources needed for on-site training. In-stride computer and human analysis of scenarios will present countless opportunities for problem-solving and give wargame participants immediate feedback to enhance their speed of decision making.
“Hopefully this center will allow Marines to do more…in a sophisticated, more technically advanced setting, and we will be able to learn more about our plans and our ideas and also about each other,” said Neller.
The lessons learned through wargaming and simulation can then be translated to on-the-ground training and experimentation to test their validity. Ultimately, wargaming within the Neller Center will help evaluate the tactical skills and character of the players and provide a forum for immediate feedback to create better outcomes in training and greater lethality in combat.
“Time on rehearsal is seldom wasted, and a wargame is a rehearsal. It’s a test. And you hope you put enough rigor in the test so you can challenge whatever plans or assumptions you’ve made,” said Neller. “You never want to just show up. Wargaming will hopefully keep you from just showing up and not being prepared for whatever you might face in the future.”
| Date Taken: | 05.31.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.31.2024 12:59 |
| Story ID: | 472736 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 2,411 |
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Commandant of the Marine Corps
