Connections 2010-2018 Wargaming Conferences

[Brian Train]

The Connections 2013 conference will be held 22-25 July in Dayton Ohio, at the Tech^Edge Centre for Innovation near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Connections is the only national event dedicated specifically to professional military wargaming. Organized and chaired since its beginning in 1993 by (now retired) Air Force COL Matt Caffrey, the annual Connections conference has worked to advance the art, science and application of serious wargaming by bringing together all elements of the field (military, commercial and academic) so participants can exchange information on achievements, best practices and needs.

The theme for 2013 is: "Enhancing Wargaming Support to Budget Decisions."
Given the current and future uncertainty over US Department of Defense budgets, this is a timely theme indeed.

Another valuable element of Connections is the chance to meet leaders from across the spectrum of wargaming. Past attendees and speakers have included Larry Bond, James F. Dunnigan, David Isby, Joe Miranda, Al Nofi, Peter Perla, John Prados and many more.

Keynote speakers for this year are:

- COL Chris Froehlich, Chief Strategic Planning Division, Air Force Material Command
- Dr. Peter Perla, author of The Art of Wargaming, Lead, Wargaming, Centre for Naval Analysis
- Dr. Thomas Allen, Deputy Director for Studies and Analysis, Joint Staff

Connections is open to all contributors to the field of professional wargaming: military, government, defense contractor, academic, and recreational. It is an unclassified event. Many of the attendees are recreational wargamers in their spare time, but the emphasis of the conference is on discussion of activity and issues in professional wargaming, from the military, commercial and academic perspectives.

Because of sequestration across most of the US Federal Government, there will be expanded opportunities for people to participate virtually in the conference via VTC, phone or Web. Information on how to participate virtually will be available shortly from the website.

On the other hand, one of the most exciting elements of Connections 2013 will NOT lend itself to virtual participation. Luftwaffe Colonel Uwe L. Heilmann will be bringing a NATO team to conduct a "game lab". He and his team will conduct a manual NATO wargame that was designed for leadership development. Participants will them discuss how the wargame could be modified to enhance its ability to provide budget insights, some or all the modifications will be implemented, then the wargame will be played again. These game labs are a recent feature of Connections conferences and have proven very popular.

See the conference website and agenda at http://connections-wargaming.com/

Contact Matt Caffrey at matthewbcaffreyjr@gmail.com
<mailto:matthewbcaffreyjr@gmail.com> for further information.

Thanks for your interest,

Brian Train

[Brian Train]

One clarification I have to add, from Matt Caffrey:

One further point on Connections 13: sequestration across most of the US Federal Government has greatly accelerated an ongoing trend in the recent Connections. In 2011 Connections linked to 6 VTC sites, in 2012 it was 20 sites. For 2013 we will be greatly expanding the virtual element. For example our keynote speaker, Dr Thomas Allen, Deputy Director for Studies and Analysis, Joint Staff, will both give his remarks and participate in the keynote speaker panel via VTC. Also, while we have limited physical participation to practitioners in the field to maintain critical mass for participant interaction, there is no reason not to let anyone interested in wargaming to call in. I suspect this year we may well have more people participate in Connections via VTC, phone and web then will participate in person. That is by necessity because of the current budget constraints, still the long term impact may turn out to be a significant increase in the total number of people who can participate in, hence benefit from, Connections.

Brian