Investigations

How the U.S. military lost a $250 million war game in minutes

Secret for 20 years, a declassified report warned of military vulnerabilities to unconventional tactics that were later exploited by enemies in real conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

An assortment of images and documents from Millennium Challenge 2002. (Video: (Marissa Vonesh/The Washington Post; Technical Sergeant Lisa M. Zunzanyika/U.S Air Force; PH2 Aaron Ansarov/U.S. Navy; Staff Sgt. Aaron D. Allmon II/U.S. Air Force; Chief Warrant Officer Tim Schauwecker/U.S. Army; documents obtained by The Washington Post)/The Washington Post, Photo: (Marissa Vonesh/The Washington Post; Technical Sergeant Lisa M. Zunzanyika/U.S Air Force; documents obtained by The Washington Post)/The Washington Post)
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As a U.S. Navy carrier battle group entered the Persian Gulf, it came under surprise attack by adversaries launching missiles from commercial ships and radio-silent aircraft that quickly overwhelmed its missile defense systems. Nineteen U.S. ships, including the aircraft carrier, were destroyed and sunk within 10 minutes.

Fortunately for U.S. forces, this scenario was only a simulation in a massive, $250 million war game named Millennium Challenge 2002. After the unexpected and humbling “loss” in July 2002, military officials at Joint Forces Command in Norfolk paused the war game, “refloated” the ships and restarted the exercise. They also imposed limits on enemy tactics. After the restart, the U.S. forces defeated their adversaries in a more conventionally fought simulation.