The Epistemology of War Gaming

TLDR: War gaming is a distinct and historically significant tool that warriors have used over the centuries to help them understand war in general and the nature of specific upcoming operations, and the importance of war gaming demands serious examination of thenature of the knowledge it produces.

Abstract: : Anyone who has conducted or has studied actual warfare knows well its massive complexities These complexities do not relieve humans from the responsibility for making decisions--difficult decisions--aimed at navigating their organizations successfully through campaigns, be they in a theater of war or in the halls of the Pentagon Minds must be prepared beforehand, both in their general, educated functioning and in the specific, sophisticated understanding of conflict and the competitive environments they face This preparation must be predicated on the internalization of "valid" knowledge about the conflict environment There are many ways of gaining such knowledge: the study of history and theory, practical experience, and exposure to the results of various kinds of research and analysis Each of these methods of developing knowledge has its own particular epistemology--formally, a "theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge, especially with reference to its limits and validity," or more practically, rules by which error is distinguished from truth War gaming is a distinct and historically significant tool that warriors have used over the centuries to help them understand war in general and the nature of specific upcoming operations The importance of war gaming demands serious examination of the nature of the knowledge it produces