U.S. Marine Corps: SNCOs Practice Critical Planning Skills In Littoral War Game

Press release from the U.S. Marine Corps:

August 9, 2021

Staff noncommissioned officers attending the Advanced Course at the Camp Hansen Staff Noncommissioned Officer Academy engage in a littoral war game on Camp Hansen, July 29.

Using predictive analytical tools, critical decision making, and feasibility of support, students attending the Advanced Course at the SNCOA used a littoral war game to combine their diverse backgrounds and simulate various sea-based operations and strategies. The game is used as a tool to challenge students’ previous ways of leading units and probe them to improve their decision making skills against a simulated-thinking enemy.

“The littoral war game uses structured assumptions with realistic effects,” said Gunnery Sgt. Sven George, an Advanced Course faculty advisor at the SNCOA. “It allows the students’ minds to think and be ready to adapt and adjust to the simulations within the game.”

George, a native of Brooklyn, New York, explained that the game simulates how much time and resources the students have to accomplish a set mission. He said that there are constant variables and challenges, such as simulated typhoons that challenges students’ decision making skills.

“The most challenging, but valuable part, of this exercise is learning and working with from each other's diverse backgrounds and experiences.” Gunnery Sgt. Bruce Jones, Headquarters and Support Battalion substance abuse coordinating officer

This press release was produced by the U.S. Marine Corps. The views expressed here are the author’s own.