Wargaming was instrumental in the development of the U.S. Navy's tactical doctrine. Doctrine was a new concept in the Navy of the early twentieth century. As ship captains and formation commanders explored how best to foster collaborative action beyond the range of visual signaling, they used wargaming to identify what was possible. By reinforcing these lessons with exercises at sea to determine what was tactically feasible, they developed more sophisticated approaches to handling ships, formations, and fleets. This synergistic relationship between fleet exercises and wargaming began before World War I. After that conflict ended, the Navy's approach became increasingly systematic, prompting the creation of a learning system that aided the introduction of new technologies and more sophisticated tactics. By the eve of World War II, the Navy was well-positioned, not only to fight but to learn rapidly from combat experience, because of its wargaming experience.

Trent Hone is a Vice President of Technology and Product Innovation with ICF International in Reston, VA. His Learning War: The Evolution of Fighting Doctrine in the U.S. Navy, 1898–1945 explained how the U.S. Navy harnessed learning mechanisms to accelerate victory in World War II. Hone’s article, “U.S. Navy Surface Battle Doctrine and Victory in the Pacific” was awarded the U.S. Naval War College’s Edward S. Miller Prize and the Naval History and Heritage Command’s Ernest M. Eller Prize. Hone’s latest book, Mastering the Art of Command: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and Victory in the Pacific War, is a detailed examination of Admiral Nimitz's leadership during World War II and describes how Nimitz used his talents to win crucial victories against the forces of Imperial Japan, seize the initiative, and execute an offensive campaign that created the conditions for victory in the Pacific.

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