SAASS puts strategic thinking to the test in wargames Published March 31, 2009 By Carl Bergquist Air University Public Affairs MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- The commandant of the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies said 77 students from this year's SAASS class and sister service advanced study courses assembled last week at the Air Force Wargaming Institute for the annual Theater Campaign Warfare exercise. "The TCW exercise is a great opportunity to practice strategic thinking and to mix with our sister services," Col. Scott Gorman said. "In addition to the normal SAASS class which includes a French officer this year, we invited 35 officers from the Naval Operations Planning Course and the Army's School of Advanced Military Studies to participate in the TCW event." The colonel said TCW differs from many other wargames at Maxwell-Gunter in that the exercise doesn't deal with hands-on planning but concentrates on thinking at a "high strategic level." He said that helps students sort out complex problems and decide what to do about them based on what they have learned in the classroom. "This is at the heart of strategic thinking. How to prioritize problems and fix them," he said. "Researching a problem and using what they are taught in their courses helps students back up their recommendations to the secretary of defense." Lt. Col. Geraud Laborie, a pilot in the French air force and the only international officer in the exercise, said there were two things that struck him as important about TCW. "The first is that there is an emphasis on working with the coalition not just the U.S. Interaction with international organization, such as NATO, makes the exercise interesting," he said. "I also like the public affairs aspect of being approached by mock media shooting questions at us. That helps make the exercise very realistic, and the de-briefing afterwards is also helpful." He said he has been involved in other joint exercises in France, and while they were a lot like TCW, they didn't have the PA side to them. Lt. Col. James Denton, a U.S. Air Force B-1 pilot who will soon transition to B-52s, said he likes the exercise because it provides an insight into high-level decision making. "I have been able to better see what goes on in national decision making, and that helps me learn how to integrate all aspects of power to support stability throughout the world," he said. "SAASS provides a great grounding in theory, and the wargame provides the opportunity to apply theory." Colonel Gorman said SAASS has been doing the TCW exercise "for the five years he has been here." He said the SAASS course always has more applicants than slots, so next year the 42-student class size will be increased to 60 students. He said he likes the idea of having joint and international officers in the game because it helps students experience different cultures and how other U.S. services approach problems. That aspect contributes to the quality of the officers SAASS graduates. "We are luck in that we get the cream-of-the-crop here at SAASS. They are good when the come in and are good when they leave," he said. "One indicator of our success is the demand for our students. The demand is always higher than the number of students we graduate, and that is one reason for increasing the class size."