JAPCC Flyer on Schriever Wargame 2012 International May 2012
Background
A task force of nine NATO nations and Australia (BLUE) battled
a combination of terrorists, pirates and affi liated third parties
(RED) during the world’s premier space and cyberspace war-
game conducted by U.S. Air Force Space Command and hosted
by the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center. Set in 2023, Schriever War-
game 2012 International (SW 12 International) off ered NATO
an unprecedented opportunity to explore combined space
operations within a NATO construct. During the game, RED
attempted to turn BLUE’s vertical fl ank by crippling space and
cyberspace capabilities through various means including
attacks on BLUE territory. BLUE countered by sharing informa-
tion across platforms; integrating into a joint force structure;
and employing novel approaches to coordinate and defend
enabling capabilities in space and cyberspace.
In the game, a North Atlantic Council Initiating Instruction led
to deployment of a task force to the Horn of Africa organised
around the deployable Joint Force Command concept. Person-
nel assigned to Joint Force Command – Brunssum (JFC-B) pro-
vided the core JFC HQ. Voluntary National Contributions (VNC)
completed the staff and also manned small Component Com-
mand cells. SHAPE adopted a similar approach with personnel
playing as the Comprehensive Crisis Operations Management
Centre, including a game-created ‘Space Awareness Cell’, and
VNCs. JFC-B and SHAPE personnel brought real-world consider-
ations, practices and depth to the game while VNCs contri-
buted national and space knowledge to a NATO Command
Structure that in reality has only coincidental space expertise.
Commander Joint Force Command (COMJFC) intended to
integrate and synchronise terrestrial oper ations with space-
based capabilities made available for mission execution.
Though COMJFC did not exercise operational control over any
space asset, Nations identifi ed a subset of their space capabili-
ties to JFC HQ for planning. This baseline enabled COMJFC to
employ organic assets under JFC control while coordinating
external space support. COMJFC accomplished these tasks
using the real-world doctrinal concept of Space Coordinating
Authority (SCA) implemented via a game concept dubbed the
Space Coordinating Working Group (SCWG).
One senior mentor identifi ed the SCWG as ‘potentially the
golden nugget’ of the game at the operational level. Planners
created the SCWG after recognising the need for an active
process to allow COMJFC to execute SCA functions. The
purpose of the SCWG was to identify the challenges to, and
JAPCC Flyer
Edition 5
The JAPCC helped Canada, Den-
mark, France, Germany, Italy, the
Netherlands, Turkey, the United
Kingdom, the United States, Aus-
tralia, and NATO organisations
greatly exceed expectations at
Schriever Wargame 2012 Inter-
national. The game hints that co-
ordinating military space oper-
ations across the Alliance at the
Joint Force Operational level
improves mission e ectiveness.
How NATO responds to this eet-
ing opportunity will directly im-
pact future operations.
Schriever Wargame 2012 International:
Seizing an Unprecedented Opportunity
