Ian Brown wrote A New Conception of War: John Boyd, the U.S. Marines, and Maneuver Warfare, and The John Boyd Primer. Mark “Moose” McGrath and I asked him about Boyd’s impact on the Marines and how wargaming builds adaptive leaders.
Boyd and the Marines
Ian traces Boyd’s contributions to the Marine Corps. He explains why institutionalizing maneuver warfare proved so hard. Doctrine can carry ideas forward, and it can also freeze them.
The value of a wargame
We look at wargaming as a way to build decision-making skill and understand complex environments. Clear objectives matter. Ian discusses how wargames get misused, and the competing readings of Millennium Challenge 2002, the exercise in which General Paul Van Riper led the opposing force.
Avoiding the pitfalls
Ian explains how to sidestep the pitfalls. Everyone in the game needs to understand its purpose. Played that way, wargames build a habit of deciding and prepare people for complex situations.
Wargames test orientation under pressure, with no lives at stake.
What would your next big decision look like if your team wargamed it first?
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