Summary

Paul Van Riper, or Rip as his friends called him, was a former Marine commander during the Vietnam war. He was selected by the Joint Forces Command to play the enemy rouge commander in a computerized war game called the Millennium challenge.

Joint Forces Command or JFCOM is the strategic arm of the U.S. military and is in charge of running war games. It is located in Virginia a few hours south of Washington, D.C. JFCOM is where new warfare strategies are developed. The Pentagon recognized that modern warfare would no longer achieve victory by brute force and military strikes alone. Rather, taking apart the adversary’s support system is what would lead to the defeat of the enemy. Understanding the links between a nation’s military and economy was thought to be vital in...