“There are no rules for the red team. The red team is going to do whatever they can to win and if you don’t understand that from the blue side, you’re going to lose every time you touch this board.”
[Editor’s Note: Regular readers of the Mad Scientist Laboratory blog site know that wargaming is a vital cognitive tool for understanding the complexities of the evolving Operational Environment (OE). Wargaming helps facilitate “cognitive warfighting proficiencies” among its practitioners. Unlike passive classroom lectures, wargames provide an immersive environment where Soldiers and Leaders can follow their ideas to their logical conclusions, test new concepts, and—crucially—experience failure in a safe, consequence-free setting. This “safe failure” is seen as essential for developing the creativity and agility required to avoid operational surprise on the actual battlefield.
Today’s episode of The Convergence podcast features COL Mike Barnett and returning proclaimed Mad Scientist Joe Chretien, both from the Sustainment Exercise and Simulation Directorate, Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM), Fort Lee, Virginia. We discussed how they incorporated their Sinews of War: Theater Sustainment Operations wargame into Practical Exercises in the Sustainment Center of Excellence’s Programs of Instruction (POIs). Read on to learn how wargaming is providing our Sustainment Soldiers and Leaders with fail-safe experiences to learn critical warfighting skills — enabling them to reflect on experiential, shared events with their peers during Professional Military Education (PME)].
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Following 15 years in various Armor enlisted and officer assignments, COL Mike Barnett became a Functional Area 57, Models and Simulations (M&S) Officer in 2011. He served as the Chief of Knowledge Management at the First Infantry Division and 8th Army, in both deployed and garrison operating environments. COL Barnett is a graduate of the Command and General Staff College and the U. S. Army War College at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In his current assignment, COL Barnett leads the Sustainment Exercise and Simulation Directorate at Ft. Lee, Virginia, where he and his team support Army-wide sustainment simulations for Division, Corps, and Army Service Component Command collective command post training events.
Joe Chretien is a retired M&S Army Lieutenant Colonel who has served in multiple roles — including wargame developer and facilitator for the U.S. Army War College, where he incorporated experiential educational methodologies into the curriculum. Of note, Mr. Chretien is the co-author of several Matrix Wargames such as Kaliningrad, One-Belt-One-Road, Crisis in the South China Sea, First Contact, and Sinews of War: Theater Sustainment Operations. He currently serves as a Department of the Army Civilian assigned as the Deputy Director, Logistics Exercise and Simulation Directorate (LESD) for the National Simulation Center. He is responsible for managing, planning, organizing, and directing an authorized workforce of military and Department of the Army Civilians. He additionally oversees contractor deliverables in support of the LESD mission.
In our latest episode of The Convergence podcast, we sat down with COL Barnett and Mr. Chretien to talk about Sinews of War — a new game they designed to help teach and train Army Sustainers, their experience play testing it, and what they see as the future of wargaming in the Army. The following bullet points highlight key insights from our conversation with them:
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Within the Sustainment Exercise and Simulation Directorate at the Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM), COL Barnett and Mr. Chretien created the Sinews of War wargame that helps U.S. Army Sustainers (e.g., Ordnance, Transportation, Quartermaster, and Logistics Corps Soldiers and Leaders) visualize the fight and think critically about their role sustaining combat operations and making decisions on the battlefield.
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- They argue that wargames like Sinews of War enhance training and education because students are actively invested in the learning via
engaging practical exercises, as opposed to more passive learning methods (e.g., lectures via presentations — aka “death by PowerPoint”). Wargaming is experiential learning — providing students both agency and motivation that boosts their critical thinking and problem solving.
- They argue that wargames like Sinews of War enhance training and education because students are actively invested in the learning via
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- One of the biggest lessons learned from this game is just how vital protection is as a Warfighting Function — critical to mission success at all echelons on the battlefield. Sustainers experienced how assets
positioned or emplaced without the requisite protection inevitably led to their loss and, eventually, a breakdown in the rearm/refuel/resupply chain. Gaming provides students an iterative process within a safe-to-fail environment, enabling them to learn from their mistakes and develop the requisite skill sets to win decisively on the battlefield.
- One of the biggest lessons learned from this game is just how vital protection is as a Warfighting Function — critical to mission success at all echelons on the battlefield. Sustainers experienced how assets
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- COL Barnett and Mr. Chretien theorized that a wargame — possibly one that is digitized — could be a more effective learning tool since that’s what younger Soldiers and the
next generation of recruits will be comfortable with. Soldiers are quick to adopt the gaming aspect of learning — a connection that past instructors may not have been able to establish as effectively through traditional methods of instruction.
- COL Barnett and Mr. Chretien theorized that a wargame — possibly one that is digitized — could be a more effective learning tool since that’s what younger Soldiers and the
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- However, Mr. Chretien is not overly sanguine regarding the future of wargaming in the Army — he senses the institutional will to embrace it
as an effective learning mechanism doesn’t exist throughout the force. If the Army values this type of learning, it has the opportunity to increase its reliance on wargaming across PME — integrating it into POIs within its Centers of Excellence and Schools. In contrast to the Army, he noted that the U.S. Air Force and the Marine Corps have embraced and successfully integrated wargaming into their respective curricula.
- However, Mr. Chretien is not overly sanguine regarding the future of wargaming in the Army — he senses the institutional will to embrace it
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Stay tuned to the Mad Scientist Laboratory for future insightful episodes of The Convergence podcast!
If you enjoyed this post, check out the T2COM G-2‘s Operational Environment Enterprise web page, brimming with authoritative information on the Operational Environment and how our adversaries fight, including:
Our T2COM OE Threat Assessment 1.0, The Operational Environment 2024-2034: Large-Scale Combat Operations
Our China Landing Zone, full of information regarding our pacing challenge, including ATP 7-100.3, Chinese Tactics, T2COM OE Threat Assessment 1-1, How China Fights in Large-Scale Combat Operations, 10 Things You Didn’t Know About the PLA, and BiteSize China weekly topics.
Our Russia Landing Zone, including T2COM OE Threat Assessment 1-2, How Russia Fights in Large-Scale Combat Operations and the BiteSize Russia weekly topics. If you have a CAC, you’ll be especially interested in reviewing our weekly RUS-UKR Conflict Running Estimates and associated Narratives, capturing what we learned about the contemporary Russian way of war in Ukraine in 2022 and 2023 and the ramifications for U.S. Army modernization across DOTMLPF-P.
Our Iran Landing Zone, including the Iran Quick Reference Guide and the Iran Passive Defense Manual (both require a CAC to access).
Our North Korea Landing Zone, including Resources for Studying North Korea, Instruments of Chinese Military Influence in North Korea, and Instruments of Russian Military Influence in North Korea.
Our Irregular Threats Landing Zone, including TC 7-100.3, Irregular Opposing Forces, and ATP 3-37.2, Antiterrorism (requires a CAC to access).
Our Running Estimates SharePoint site (also requires a CAC to access) — documenting what we’re learning about the evolving OE (including Russia’s war in Ukraine war since 2024 and other ongoing competitions and conflicts around the globe). Contains our monthly OE Running Estimates, associated Narratives, and the quarterly OE Assessment Intelligence Posts.
Then review the following related Mad Scientist Laboratory content:
Seven Reflections of a “Red Commander” — Lessons Learned Playing the Adversary in DoD Wargames, Would You Like to Play a Game? Wargaming as a Learning Experience and Key Assumptions Check, and “No Option is Excluded” — Using Wargaming to Envision a Chinese Assault on Taiwan, by Ian Sullivan
From Campus to Command: The William & Mary Wargaming Lab and associated podcast, with Luke Miller.
“Best of” Calling All Wargamers Insights (Parts 1 and 2)
Whipping Wargaming into NATO SHAPE and associated podcast, with proclaimed Mad Scientist COL Arnel David
Wargaming: A Company-Grade Perspective, by CPT Spencer D. H. Bates
Taking the Golf Out of Gaming and associated podcast, with proclaimed Mad Scientist Sebastian Bae
Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response (CHMR) Considerations in Wargaming LSCO, Achieving Victory & Ensuring Civilian Safety in Conflict Zones, and associated podcast with proclaimed Mad Scientist Andrew Olson
Brian Train on Wargaming Irregular and Urban Combat
Hybrid Intelligence: Sustaining Adversary Overmatch and associated podcast, with proclaimed Mad Scientist Dr. Billy Barry and LTC Blair Wilcox
Live from D.C., it’s Fight Night (Parts One and Two) and associated podcasts (Parts One and Two)
Using Wargames to Reconceptualize Military Power, by proclaimed Mad Scientist Caroline Duckworth
Gaming the System: How Wargames Shape our Future and associated podcast, with guest panelists Ian Sullivan, Mitchell Land, LTC Peter Soendergaard, Jennifer McArdle, Becca Wasser, Dr. Stacie Pettyjohn, Sebastian Bae, Dan Mahoney, and Jeff Hodges
Gamers Building the Future Force and associated podcast
>>>Announcement: Annotate your calendars now — the Army Mad Scientist / William & Mary Great Power Competition & Conflict in an Age of Authoritarian Collusion Virtual Event, on Tuesday, 27JAN26:
Who: The Army Mad Scientist Initiative and William & Mary’s Whole of Government Center of Excellence
What: A virtual event exploring the Operational Environment implications of emerging trends gleaned from contemporary conflicts and proxy wars, as well as the expanding adversarial influence and presence in the Global South and polar regions, through the lens of authoritarian collusion
When: Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Where: Virtual via Zoom.gov; in-person on campus for local T2COM G-2 and FCC participants
Why: To learn from subject matter experts within academia and the Department of War about the implications of authoritarian collusion, ultimately expanding our understanding of the Operational Environment
Register to attend this informative event virtually at our EventBrite site.
>>>Reminder: Army Mad Scientist is CALLING ALL CREATORS with our Multi-Media Contest for imaginative thinkers who seek to showcase their ideas about Army Transformation in novel, alternative ways. Check out the contest’s guidelines here, consult your inner muse, unleash your creative talent, get cracking developing your entry, and submit it to ArmyMadSci@gmail.com — Deadline for submission is 14 February 2026!
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of the Army, or the Transformation and Training Command (T2COM).
