Air Force Space Command conducts Schriever Wargame 2018

October 11, 2018  - By

The Air Force Space Command will conduct the 12th Schriever Wargame Oct. 11 at the Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.

The Schriever Wargame scenario, set in the year 2028, will explore critical space issues and investigate the integration activities of multiple agencies associated with space systems and services. Schriever Wargame 2018 (SW 18) will include international partners from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

The objectives of the wargame are centered on:

  1. examining how international partner capabilities can deter an adversary from extending or escalating a conflict into space;
  2. gaining insight into resiliency, deterrence, and warfighting through international partner synchronization of space and cyberspace operations;
  3. exploring various combined command and control (C2) frameworks to employ and defend air, space and cyberspace capabilities in support of global and geographic/regional operations;
  4. identifying the strategic and operational contributions of space and cyberspace in a multi-domain conflict; and
  5. exploring partnerships framed by a whole of governments approach (international, civil, commercial) to combined space and cyberspace operations.

The SW 18 scenario depicts a notional peer space and cyberspace competitor seeking to achieve strategic goals by exploiting those domains. It will include a global scenario with the focus of effort towards the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) Area of Responsibility.

A 2016 wargame involving the Air Force and Navy at the Naval Postgraduate School. (Photo: U.S. Navy)

A 2016 wargame involving the Air Force and Navy at the Naval Postgraduate School. (Photo: U.S. Navy)

The scenario will also include a full spectrum of threats across diverse operating environments to challenge civilian and military leaders, planners and space system operators, as well as the capabilities they employ.

The Schriever Wargame Team will conduct the wargame on behalf of Air Force Space Command, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Approximately 350 military and civilian experts from more than 27 commands and agencies around the country, as well as seven international partners, will participate in the wargame.

U.S. commands and agencies participating in Schriever Wargame 2018 include:

  • Air Force Space Command
  • Army Space and Missile Defense Command
  • Naval Fleet Cyber Command
  • the National Reconnaissance Office
  • Executive Agent for Space Staff
  • Air Combat Command
  • Office of the Secretary of Defense
  • USINDOPACOM
  • U.S. Strategic Command
  • U.S. Special Operations Command
  • U.S. Northern Command
  • the Intelligence Community
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • Office of Homeland Security
  • Department of Transportation
  • Department of State
  • Department of Commerce.

About the Author: Tracy Cozzens

Senior Editor Tracy Cozzens joined GPS World magazine in 2006. She also is editor of GPS World’s newsletters and the sister website Geospatial Solutions. She has worked in government, for non-profits, and in corporate communications, editing a variety of publications for audiences ranging from federal government contractors to teachers.