The Wizard of Oz quote, “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!� is applicable in many ways to the Modeling, Simulation and Training (MS&T) community. This paper takes you behind the Operation Blended Warrior (OBW) curtain. OBW, conducted as an I/ITSEC special event for three consecutive years, has allowed an opportunity like no other for industry, government and academia to collaborate and showcase their Live, Virtual, and Constructive (LVC) systems, tools, and capabilities. Integrating a disparate group of systems, requiring use of common data, defining a common infrastructure, and providing rules of operation are just a portion of the significant efforts undertaken by OBW and its participants. Yet, gaining real insights into what makes the event a success is difficult by merely watching the event from the conference floor. We, as an MS&T community, are far from turnkey integration of diverse LVC systems. The LVC community must do more than hope for a “plug and play� state where all systems magically connect, fully interact, and consistently represent the military mission environment. In fact, many do assume this is a relatively easy task, and for good reason; often the presentation of the final product is made to look easy. Flag level interest in LVC solutions for military applications continue, but the challenges in conducting successful LVC events are still not fully understood. Better understanding would allow leaders to better focus their resources. OBW 2017 was the most recent opportunity to bring all interested parties to such an open and varied networking event. This paper highlights specific topics to include technical challenges, innovative workarounds, and unintended benefits of bringing a slice of the MS&T community together for the common goal of OBW success. Valued insights gained from OBW are documented as a baseline for further growth.