War College at Origins Game Fair
SATURDAY 28 June
9:00 AM
Modern Tactics
A short introduction on the use of computer simulations for training at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College will be followed by an extended hands-on demonstration exercise using Matrix Games’ Close Combat: Modern Tactics. Seminar participants will take key command and staff roles, planning and executing company and platoon operations. Come experience the teamwork real military units need to achieve victory!
9:00 AM
Naval Command and Control
An aircraft carrier is a floating airport, but a Carrier Strike Group is a dynamic collection of warships able to fight air, surface, and subsurface threats simultaneously. Christopher Weuve explains how the admiral and his warfare commanders make it happen, and why the Army gets confused when it’s explained to them.
9:00 AM
Current European Security Structures
Professor Craig Greathouse looks at the development of current European security structures outside of NATO including the failure to create a separate European Defense Community in the 1950’s to the successful inclusion of security policy within the Treaty on European Union in 1992. It will address the evolution from the Common Foreign and Defense Policy to the European Security and Defense Identity eventually becoming the European Security and Defense Policy with a common grand strategy and deployable battlegroups.
10:00 AM
How a German Panzer Division Operated on the Battlefield
Charles Sharp provides a detailed look at how a German panzer division of World War Two actually organized itself for combat. This seminar will emphasize the difference between the “official” table of organization and the real organization for combat showing the variations based on battlefield objectives and means, and a thorough examination of the “kampfgruppe”.
11:00 AM
Modern Tactics
A short introduction on the use of computer simulations for training at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College will be followed by an extended hands-on demonstration exercise using Matrix Games’ Close Combat: Modern Tactics. Seminar participants will take key command and staff roles, planning and executing company and platoon operations. Come experience the teamwork real military units need to achieve victory!
11:00 AM
Air and Space Power 101
America equals airpower. No U.S. conventional infantryman has died by enemy air attack since 1952. We rule the skies. Space, too. What advantages accrue? What threats to this dominance exist? Former CHECKMATE planner Robert Blanke takes a look at America’s capabilities in the third dimension and how we exploit this control.
Noon
Stalingrad, Part 3
David Glantz describes the Struggle for Stalingrad’s suburbs and center city.
1:00 PM
What if WW2 had extended into 1946? What would the various ship building programs have produced?
There were a large number of ships scrapped when WW2 ended; several were of unique and interesting designs. What would another year have brought to the seas? Come and ask a naval architect, Doug Houseman.
2:00 PM
Cavalry in the 20th Century: Twilight of the Sabers?
Charles Sharp discusses the development of horse cavalry, cavalry organizations, and cavalry combat from before WWI through the last great cavalry battles in WWII, plus an examination of the strengths and weaknesses of horse-mounted combat units on the modern battlefield of the mid-20th century. Examples include the British cavalry of 1914 to the last US mounted units to the massive Soviet forces of 1941-45.
2:00 PM
Hizballah – Politicians, Reporters, and Terrorists
In 2006, they precipitated a war with Israel. In 2007, one of their operatives was detained in Iraq while supporting anti-Coalition Shia militants. At the same time, they are a political faction in Lebanon, run a satellite TV news network expressly devoted to propaganda, and provide social services in Southern Lebanon. Robert Blanke takes a look at Hizballah, the world’s most capable terrorist organization and a key player in the stormy political dynamic in Lebanon.
3:00 PM
Battles from the Bulge
A short introduction on the use of computer simulations for training at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College will be followed by an extended hands-on demonstration exercise with a sneak peak at Matrix Games’ upcoming Battles from the Bulge. Seminar participants will take key command and staff roles, planning and executing brigade and division operations. Come experience the teamwork real military units need to achieve victory!
4:00 PM
Flashman: Military Anti-Hero
Professor Charles Kamps presents a biographical sketch and analysis of the life of Brig. Gen. Sir Harry Flashman, the Victorian military “hero” depicted in the works of the late George MacDonald Fraser, historian and novelist.
4:00 PM
The Hero of the Great Lakes – Henry Eckford
Oliver Hazard Perry is credited with winning on the Great Lakes in the War of 1812. But Doug Houseman talks about the real hero, the man who gave Perry his fleet, Henry Eckford.
5:00 PM
The Transformation of Military Wargaming
History consistently shows that when a new technology emerges it is first used to do old things better. Only later is it learned that the highest value of the new technology is in doing entirely new things. In recent years many elements of the US military have “discovered” commercial wargaming. History once again repeats itself; much of the initial interest was in exploring ways this technology could do old applications better. Matt Caffrey will explore the ways technology can be used to achieve entirely new applications of wargaming.
5:00 PM
Iran: Deadly Threat or Posturing Nuisance
With the public release of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran’s nuclear program, many insist that Iran is less of a threat – while others insist that the threat remains the same. Robert Blanke will present a broad spectrum update looking at who is in control, what is the threat, and what can we expect from the Iranians over the next few years.
6:00 PM
The Atlanta Campaign, Phase Two: Sherman vs. Hood.
David Powell describes the culmination of the Atlanta Campaign from Hood’s attacks in July 1864 until the fall of Atlanta.
7:00 PM
Secret Turning Points of the American Civil War
Dana Lombardy, designer and editor of the battlefield guidebook The First Battle of Bull Run: Campaign of First Manassas, continues his popular series of “secret” turning points lectures with a look at the decisions (and non-decisions) that have been overlooked or downplayed in most books written about America’s Civil War. What decision crippled Lee’s invasion of the North in 1863 before his army even left Virginia? What simple oversight hamstrung Grant’s army in its first encounter in 1864 in Virginia? Audience participation is encouraged during the Q&A segment of the seminar.
7:00 PM
Hardware – The Individual Tools of the Soldier, Past, Present and Near Future
An overview on ordnance, what the soldier uses to fight with. Emphasis will be placed on individual weapons to include (but not limited to) pistols, rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, grenades, grenade launchers, and heavy weapons that are operated by one man.
8:00 PM
Comparing East and West: Atlanta 1864 vs. Richmond 1864.
David Powell examines the attrition, strength and losses between Grant and Sherman’s campaigns, outcomes and effectiveness.
8:00 PM
Global War on Terror – 2008 Update
A panel of national security professionals with expertise in areas relevant to state-sponsored terrorism and countermeasures returns to present an update on the states that are suspected of sponsoring terrorism, the groups associated with these governments, and their objectives. Lots more than last year’s presentation, especially regarding current strategy and the nature of Islam. This seminar is also greatly expanded from 2006’s with regard to U.S. counter-terror strategy, military operations, and the nature of Islam. A mini-course on Islamic beliefs, the socio-economic realities of the Islamic world, why certain Muslims are angry and at whom, who the terrorist groups are, what they want to achieve and how they go about it, which national governments support them (plus "why" and "how"), and the possible responses to this threat. What do terror-supporting regimes hope to achieve? Which terrorist movements are supported by governments, what obligations do they incur to their sponsors, and how do they repay them? What do terrorist movements hope to achieve? What might these collaborations be capable of achieving if unchecked? What can be done to dissuade governments from sponsoring terror? What can be done to eliminate terrorism? Each member of the panel will deliver a short presentation on a topic of special interest, and then, the panel will receive questions from the audience. The panel includes four war college graduates with long service overseas.
9:00 PM
Iraq F.A.Q. – 2008 Update
Lieutenant Colonels Robert Blanke and Jaime Laughrey return with an updated version of this popular seminar. What has been the real impact of the surge? Is the “Sunni Awakening” real? Can the Iraqis make the political and economic bargains needed to achieve peace? What are the strategic options for the U.S. and the potential consequences of different policy proposals? These two veteran officers with years of experience in the Middle East examine these questions and more.
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