Research for JFACC

As part of an effort to improve their ability to operate together in peacetime, crises, and war, the French Navy and the U.S. Navy have held a series of war games to explore interoperability issues over the coming decade. In May 1996, the two navies continued this effort in a war game held at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. This war game, OBJECTIVE ALLIANCE 96, challenged the players to explore interoperability issues in a contingency operation in the year 2005. The game focused on sea-based aviation operations and the use of naval aviation for combined power-projection operations. In addition, the game examined the challenges of operating at the highest level of interoperability (combined as opposed to coordinated or independent operations). This research memorandum reviews OBJECTIVE ALLIANCE 96 game play and player recommendations, compares OBJECTIVE ALLIANCE 96 with the 1994 French Navy-U.S. Navy war game, and provides a set of analytical judgments based on the game play and discussions.