Exercise Myrmidon
Exercise Myrmidon
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Location
Australian War College, Weston, ACTStart date
2024-08-28End date
2024-09-06Research 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). The Australian Defence Force has identified an urgent need to better prepare its members to understand the dynamics of complex operations. Wargaming provides a method of preparing armed forces for the complexities of conflict, employing active and experiential learning. Exercise Myrmidon is the new flagship wargame for the unit I convene, AWC704 "Contemporary Trends in Modern Operations" at the Australian War College, under Deakin's contract with Defence. It is the unit's capstone activity. Contribution Exercise Myrmidon is designed to build upon the foundations of Dardanelles Challenge 1915 (submitted as a NTRO separately). It takes the same geography and assumptions (an attack on the Dardanelles Strait) and updates them to the present day, creating a fictitious scenario that forces all participants to think hard about modern operations. Everything in AWC704 built up to the execution of this week-long wargame. Almost 200 students took part; the exercise involved self-organising, leadership tasks, and fluency in major unit, course, and program concepts. I constructed the unit's major assessment to be an analysis of the wargame experience. Significance Exercise Myrmidon will become one of the staples of Deakin's offerings at the Australian War College in fulfilment of our Defence contract. It is a full-engagement capstone learning activity that will test, teach, and speak to 200 students. Feedback from the student cohort and directing staff was extremely positive. Myrmidon was linked explicitly to the teaching and learning of the ADF's Joint Operations Planning unit early in the year and provided students an opportunity to test their existing planning skills. Nothing else like this is offered in the War College program, and Defence is extremely enthusiastic about its wide possibilities.Extent
Files including: - Game map, custom-built by Rob Engen using ArcGIS. - Extensive icons and graphical representations. - Game rulebook. - Excel spreadsheet for adjudication purposes. - Briefing slides and instructional videos. - Detailed instructions for the eight facilitators brought in to help run and adjudicate the game. - Detailed instructions for the sixteen uniformed directing staff responsible for managing their syndicates during the wargame. All game materials were prepared exclusively by Robert Engen.Recognition, awards & prizes
Deakin University, Teaching and Learning Award, Highly Commended, "Curriculum innovation based on scholarly and practice-based research in Teaching and Learning Award," 7 November 2024Event
Exercise MyrmidonPublisher
Australian War CollegePlace of publication
Weston, ACT, AustraliaUsage metrics
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