Exploring the Use Case of Wargaming Tools Across the Contracting Life Cycle

Abstract

From the receipt of a requirement to the close of a contract, there are numerous activities that occur throughout the contract life cycle. These activities are performed by contracting professionals who are faced with making business judgements that balance multiple tradeoffs such as awarding contracts with speed at a fair and reasonable price, meeting the mission’s needs in a timely manner, mitigating risks, and adhering to laws and regulations. Nonetheless, contracting professionals are required to be not only technically proficient but professionally competent as well. To develop these requisite competencies, incorporating wargaming tools into the education and training fabric of Defense contracting offers a plausible path for helping contracting professionals attain these important skills. This exploratory and conceptual research focuses on how the use of wargaming tools can be integrated into the contracting enterprise. Through a review of extant literature, a framework is proposed for developing educational wargames and describing how a wargame’s objectives can be crafted for contracting specific games. A notional use case is developed showing how a wargame can be developed to “battle test” an acquisition plan.