NATO Strategists Wage a Virtual War

U.S. Navy officials Karen Bassingthwaite, left, and Jerry Anderson discuss their strategy in a military simulation at the Old Customs Building. (By Bill O'Leary – The Washington Post) Related Links Full Coverage of NATO Summit Summit Photos: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

By Hamil R. Harris
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 26, 1999; Page A16

The NATO generals shuffled in and out of dark rooms lit by only the computer monitors, electronic maps and laser-thin red lines marking troop movements in the imaginary desert nation of Azure.

A civil war had broken out in cyberspace. The Azure Liberty Party was trying to maintain the integrity of a nation of 3 million. The People's Labor Party had employed chemical weapons against civilians. Thousands of refugees were fleeing, and NATO was trying to prevent genocide.

It certainly sounded familiar, but it was only a game.

In one room, U.S. Atlantic Command officers consulted with British and Portuguese officers on the Azure refugee situation. In another, German, French and Swedish officers plotted troop deployments and tank movements.

Nearby, 42 presidents and prime ministers sat in the plush Mellon Auditorium talking about cooperation in the real world of Kosovo and Serbia. But here, military leaders from around the world were waging war on a modern-day electronic battlefield.

For nearly eight hours, the commanders plotted an air, ground and sea campaign. They secured uranium sites, blockaded shipping lanes and protected civilian populations. The objective was a cease-fire between warring factions and the delivery of humanitarian aid.

The computer images of Azure had been borrowed from a craggy, desolate corner of the western United States.

"This is a very useful way to train for peace without employing soldiers," said Jose Silva, a lieutenant commander in the Portuguese navy.

The exercise was part of the Joint Task Force Computer Simulation Network, one of the initiatives of the Partnership for Peace.

For a moment, things seemed so real. A three-star U.S. Air Force general stormed down the hall with several other generals hurrying to keep up. French officers gave orders to colleagues back in Europe via a video conference call. German officers whispered to each other about tank battalions.

The computer network used for the simulation links 27 nations. The exercise was designed to give military leaders a chance to carry out an exercise without their troops ever leaving their barracks.

British Air Marshal Chris Coville gave a stony-faced assessment of the exercise to commanders seated behind desk and video cameras across Europe. "Once we get the [video training conference] straightened out in the future," he told them, "we will be very clear on our objectives."

On this day, it was a game. But Lt. Col. Susan P. Anders of the U.S. Atlantic Command said similar technology could be used in the war in Yugoslavia.