Schriever Wargame 2010 - Air Force Space Command

The Schriever Challenge needs to cut across government
agencies by tackling problems in large enough scale that people
from multiple agencies and nations cannot wait to start making
a difference. Space protection and cyber defense are great
examples in which no agency or nation wants to imagine a day
without space or cyberspace’s influence—GPS, DirecTV, or
free navigation of the Internet. But, these issues are not going
to be solved in a short time span, so a challenge needs to be a
subset to the larger problem. Akin to the wargame, the problem
is broken into individual cells to be worked on and periodically
the cells come together to look at the problem holistically in a
continuous feedback loop. Also, the Schriever Challenge needs
to force imagination use and be willing to look at problems differently
than current and past efforts.
An example Schriever Challenge: One issue many organizations
have studied is how the nation can move from object
tracking to true space situational awareness (SSA)—including
the sharing of disparate data between the IC, DoD, allies, and
industry. The problem is partly looked at as a sensor problem,
or the lack thereof, as well as a sharing problem between those
with the sensors. The challenge could be to study the problem
from an information technology (IT) or cyber perspective. For
example, can the government take an IT lesson from industry
in how business information is openly shared securely among
different competing companies, like in supply chain management,
to find better ways to share satellite data for improved
situation awareness in space? So, one cell would be composed
of supply chain management experts, like Dell and FedEx, with
government experts who understand how SSA data currently
flows on the space surveillance network to come up with a hybrid
way of moving SSA data. Another cell could leverage the
financial market IT experts for a lesson in security and open
architectures. From one’s laptop an individual can use their
Internet browser to access their financial account to buy or sell
a stock, executed by their institution’s corporate network that
has access to the larger market clearinghouse networks—all in
seconds, securely, yet in an open environment in which all parties
have complete trust, otherwise money would not be risked.
Could insights be garnered into ways satellite information can
be similarly shared in an open, secure, trusted environment?
An industry cell composed of fellow satellite flyers like DirecTV,
Iridium, Sirius Radio, and others, could discuss how to
facilitate such a “satellite information clearinghouse” with the
government. A higher classification cell could be composed
of the IC, DoD, and cleared industry companies to discuss
ways to more effectively share data—both within current architecture
schemes and by transforming old government ways
of doing business to embrace the latest lessons from industry.
For example, a data-mining lesson from Amazon in how they
automatically recommend books could be used to potentially
recommend ways to more effectively sift databases to better
predict potential future collisions. An allied cell could discuss
better ways to share data with our partners, while a legislative/
policy cell could investigate what needs to be altered to enable
the change. When it comes to preventing future satellite collisions,
can the nation afford not to try ideas outside established
thinking, such as leveraging supply chain management, financial
markets, or buying books? Insights garnered can be used
to feed current programs of record (POR), a new POR, a future
Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD), a Tactical
Exploitation of National Capabilities Program (TENCAP),
or inspire a company’s independent research and development.
The Cyber Challenge: In the 50+ years since the launching
of Sputnik, the space domain is characterized as “congested,
competitive, and contested.” 9 This description is even more
fitting for cyberspace, the recent game-changer. Where a limited
number of nations operate in space, the world operates in
cyberspace. Where a handful of government agencies operate
satellites, anyone can operate a keyboard. And anyone can use
that keyboard to attack the US—nation, non-state actor, and
hacker alike. The job of the cyber warrior is to battle back,
not with brawn or bombs, but with intellect. And when every
agency needs a legion of cyber warriors to defend networks and
data, efficiencies must be found.
Cyber has every government fiefdom contending for resources
and until lately, had no consolidated voice. The standup
of US Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) and the unification
of cyber efforts across the services is a first step in wrapping
arms around this interconnected domain. Cyber’s interrelationship
with intelligence is signified by having the USCYBER-
COM commander dual-hatted as the director of the National
Security Agency, which could potentially yield a symphony of
concerted efforts for the military and intelligence cyberspace
warriors. Maybe from this environment of interagency cooperation,
future Schriever Challenges can be used to further break
down cyber walls—not just within the military, but in civil and
industry sectors as well.
USCYBERCOM is charged with only defending the cyber
domain, although its impact can be felt in all domains—air,
land, sea, and space. To understand the nth order cyber effects
to other domains, such as when network defense is broken,
conversations need to occur by people who speak different
“domain languages,” such as found during the wargame.
A Schriever Challenge can be used to integrate these domains
even closer—ever more important in today’s joint fight. To
enable this, cells should be a matrix of thinking warriors from
the various communities: space, cyber, air, intelligence, acquisition,
and so forth, to confront tough problems in nimble ways
by employing their domain knowledge and capabilities to create
synergistic effects previously unimaginable.
The Schriever Challenge Rules
As the wargame comes with a basic set of rules on how the
game is to be played, so should a Schriever Challenge. First,
participants should be required to leave behind their organizational
affiliations, their agendas, their rank, and titles as they
work on a Schriever Challenge—similar to the ideals of the
Schriever Wargame. If Uncle Sam is to take any lesson and
turn it into a solution, he needs an open mind to glean insights
not just from other government agencies, but industry as well,
especially in the cyber arena where industry is continually
pushing into new frontiers. A similar second rule is the nation
High Frontier 42