Exercise Haltstate
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posted on 2023-11-06, 00:27 authored by Rob EngenExercise Haltstate
History
Location
Australian War College, Weston, ACTStart date
2023-08-14End date
2023-10-20Language
EnglishResearch statement
Background Wargame design as a field of academic research has exploded in recent years (Perla, Sabin, Bae), particularly in the field of professional military education (PME). When it comes to real-world cybersecurity operations, most military cyber capabilities, assets, and procedures are highly classified, leaving even high-ranking military practitioners ignorant of where they fit into modern joint operations. Wargames based around evoking the "feel" and the essentials of cyber operations while remaining in an unclassified space can play a critical role in acquainting military servicemembers with these capabilities. But they are difficult to develop and few exist. Contribution As a simulation of cyber warfare, Exercise Haltstate was designed to immerse participants who have no prior experience of cyber operations in a situation evocative of complex real-world computer operations. It is a completely novel approach to teaching the dynamics of cyber operations to laypeople. Almost eighty students on the Australian Command and Staff Course engaged in simultaneous opposed play exploiting a simple set of rules. They learned about and employed a variety of cyber exploitation techniques in a safe-to-fail, abstracted wargame environment, and reflected heavily upon their experiences as an integral part of submitting their game orders. Significance While Exercise Haltstate has not yet been published in a traditional academic journal (it is the definition of a non-traditional research output) it has been refined through seven iterations in two countries, and reviewed by cyber operators and signals/IT experts at the one-star (military) level for accuracy and fidelity. This wargame has previously been run successfully three times in Canada since 2020, as a main part of the curriculum at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto. It has now been run twice at the Australian War College in Canberra as well. Extensive feedback from serving experts is always received following each iteration.Extent
Image files including: - Game map, custom-built - Extensive icons and graphical representations - Briefing booklets for each team (7 teams, 4-6 course members per game) - Excel spreadsheet for adjudication purposes - Game rulebook (illustrated PDF) - Briefing slides and instructional videosRecognition, awards & prizes
Recipient of a 2020 Canadian Defence Academy Commander's Commendation.Event
Exercise Haltstate (August-October 2023)Publisher
Australian War CollegePlace of publication
CanberraUsage metrics
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