Playing with money Budget-based war games would foster critical thinking

摘要

To improve military acquisition, save precious defense dollars and get war fighters the tools they need to win our nation's conflicts, we need a new type of war game. In this game, war fighters would choose capabilities and platforms and build force structures for the purpose of fighting a simulated battle, but with a twist: The players would receive a budget and face costs for capabilities and platforms. They use their scarce budget to build their force structures, and those force structures subsequently fight mock battles in simulated environments.This budget-based war game puts war fighters at the center of the acquisition process and shows how actual operators would trade off between quantity and quality.Recently, President Obama proposed a $400 billion cut from security and defense budgets over the next 10 years. Obama has directed Pentagon leadership "to conduct a fundamental review of America's missions, capabilities and our role in a changing world," after which he would decide on specific cuts. In response, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the options for budget cuts should fully encompass the consequences and risks to force structure and capabilities so the president and the Congress "can make well-thought-out decisions."