Leaders and instructors in the Maneuver Captains Career Course (MCCC) at Fort Benning, Georgia, have had limited success using PC-based training simulations and games. While their program of instruction allowed ample opportunities to plan and analyze company-level missions, resource constraints prohibited most Soldiers from experiencing mission execution in a field setting with coordinated assets. Game developers' early efforts to provide MCCC Soldiers with simulated mission execution experiences resulted in mission scenarios that were broad in scope, but lacked depth and realistic functional effects, particularly those exhibited by computer-generated forces. In order to elevate the level of functional fidelity and meet training objectives, MCCC instructors explored the use of DARWARS Ambush, a multiplayer game that eliminated almost all computer-generated forces, provided appropriate assets, and allowed MCCC Soldiers to control leader and subordinate entities during simulated Infantry company-level missions.

This paper documents an exploratory evaluation of a multiplayer game to provide MCCC Soldiers with effective company-level simulated mission execution experiences. Forty Soldiers executed two missions during which each human entity on the simulated battle field was controlled by a human Soldier. Researchers measured the extent to which the multiplayer game provided control over assets, appropriate tactical capabilities, and the opportunity for Company Commanders to make and implement tactical decisions as conditions and events emerged. The Soldiers expressed their perceptions of the training value and effectiveness of the game exercise by completing a questionnaire. Results suggested that multiplayer games like Ambush have some training potential, but that desired performance outcomes can only be realized when specific environmental and training conditions are met.