Space and Defense
Abstract
Modern military education increasingly relies on experiential tools that allow students to explore the complexity of contemporary conflict in ways that lectures and readings alone cannot achieve. Nowhere is this more evident than in the emerging emphasis on multi-domain operations, integrated deterrence, and the blurred boundaries between competition and armed conflict. The Baltic Bear Trap wargame was developed as a student design project to meet this instructional need, offering a structured environment in which players must think, plan, and act as operational-level decision makers confronting a deteriorating security situation in the Nordic–Baltic region. Built for use at the Swedish Defense University (FHS) and tested extensively at the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA), the game is designed not merely to simulate combat, but to cultivate the cognitive habits required of 21st-century defense professionals.
DOI
10.32873/uno.dc.sd.17.01.1341
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Crookham, Connor
(2026)
"The Baltic Bear Trap Wargame,"
Space and Defense: Vol. 17:
No.
1, Article 10.
DOI: 10.32873/uno.dc.sd.17.01.1341
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/spaceanddefense/vol17/iss1/10
Included in
Asian Studies Commons, Aviation and Space Education Commons, Defense and Security Studies Commons, Eastern European Studies Commons, International Relations Commons, Leadership Studies Commons, Near and Middle Eastern Studies Commons, Nuclear Engineering Commons, Science and Technology Studies Commons, Space Vehicles Commons