“I wish that all young professionals before they go into government could have the benefit of this remarkable simulation Ohio State has built. You will not find a more intensive or realistic experience, short of doing the real thing. Amazing!”
- U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad (ret.) – former SSCI Member, who role-played U.S. Senate Majority Leader
Academia and the U.S. national security apparatus mainly train within single disciplines – within single professions, academic fields, or institutions. In contrast, the world that our graduates encounter is dynamically inter-disciplinary. Organizations require people – often starting early in their careers – to collaborate across professional lines and to use multi-institution processes (“play 3D chess”) to generate decisions. The Simulation is a nationally unique training platform that trains students from OSU and partner universities for this reality
Who: 200 participants, from seven fields: law, policy, politics, military, intelligence, communications, and management
- Practitioner Players in the most senior roles (President, Secretary, Senator, Judge, etc.)
- Student Players in deputy and advisor roles (Deputy Secretary, counsel, etc.) in their respective fields, drawn from programs across OSU and other universities: Penn State, Purdue, Dayton, Ohio University, Georgetown, and others in past years
- Control Team composed of issue experts guides players toward dilemmas & decisions
What: Two full days of role-play, in real time. Players staff top levels in all three branches of the federal government, state government, local government, the press corps, and a Fortune 500 company in Ohio (e.g., Cardinal Health, Nationwide Insurance, Google)
How: Immersive role-play, reacting to realistic intelligence & media injects. Scenarios start with the world as it is. Players have near-total freedom to problem-solve and use process. Sims include 2-3 major scenarios and a dozen minor ones involving international & domestic security
When: Every two years on a Friday/Saturday in the fall, on a football-away weekend
- Most recent: Nov. 3-4, 2023
- Next Sim: Oct. 24-25, 2025
Where: Fawcett Center at OSU
Skills Developed: professional role assumption (playing your position); working with senior leaders; “briefing short” to busy principals and colleagues; collaborating across professional and institutional lines; using process to generate decision in the context of multiple institutions, federalism, media scrutiny, and politics; appraisal of imperfect information; resilience & adaptation; crisis management; acting with integrity despite pressures of time and personality
“It is astonishing how well you have been able to replicate decisional pressures, intel feeds, etc. It was also a lot of fun, and exhausting. Kudos!”
- Prof. Ashley Deeks, UVA Law – former NSC Deputy Legal Advisor, who role-played the National Security Advisor
“I can’t compliment your team enough, and it gives me some needed measure of confidence that there will be brilliant minds available to help the country.”
- Maj. Gen. Tim McMahon (USAF, Ret.) – former 20th Air Force Commander, who role-played U.S. Strategic Command Commander
“It was very cool to see everything that I was taught in my intelligence classes applied in a working, hands-on environment. I will commission as a military intelligence officer next spring confident that everything I learned in the simulation will help me from day one.”
- Sydney Kiel, Security & Intelligence major ’17
If you have questions, please email Prof. Rudesill at SimCtrl@gmail.com with “Question – National Security Simulation” in the subject line.