Monday briefing: Wargames aren’t always news By Ian Boudreau

The wargaming wires have been quiet today, and we haven’t had a Wargamer pigeon return since last week. That means there’s not much to report on this Monday, despite promising signs on the horizon.

What I did want to take this opportunity to do, though, was point out some real-world coverage that’s related to wargames. That’s the breathless “war games” reportage that serves mainly to gin up fear and discontent.

Stratfor has an article up today about the Russian “military games” - a farcical “international military competition” where the Russians always win. Look how scarily it’s described:

But make no mistake, the competition is a loud and proud production of the Russian Ministry of Defense. And we mustn't confuse this affair with other military "Olympics" like the Military World Games, in which athletes representing global militaries compete in traditional sports. The International Army Games are largely the brainchild of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who has called them a "holiday of peaceful weapons." Shoigu and his ministry stress that the event is about camaraderie and cooperation, and I'm sure those sentiments are present to an extent. Ultimately, though, the International Army Games are all about firepower, and its most popular contests feature all manner of tanks, cutting-edge aircraft and heavy artillery.

Well, yeah. That’s how wargames are meant to be conducted. I’m sure Col. Gray can correct me if I’m wrong, but the U.S. military has a joint purpose when it conducts training exercises on the Korean peninsula - to ensure troops are up to strength and proficiency, but also to signal to the rest of the world what it’s capable of doing.

I realize this isn’t directly related to the hobby of wargaming, but it’s scare tactic that I see arise often, and one that I’m sure our esteemed readers chafe at as well. Stratfor is a well-known and respected institution, and it’s disappointing to see them characterize normal military training operations as something ominous like this. The reason we have wargames at all is because of military planning and training exercises, and it's not surprising to see military powers around the world conduct these combination training-demonstration exercises.

I’ll point you toward a few pieces I’ve been fortunate enough to midwife into publication during my time as the surrogate Joe:

As always, it’s been a pleasure, and I hope we can talk again soon.

Top photo credit: US Army