e Army has invested significant resources into developing its training simulation systems, linking them with other service simulations via the Aggregate LevelSimulation Protocol confederation, and proliferating them throughout the Army and the international community. While these systems have shortcomings that must be fixed, they provide a training environment and representations of combat that have been accepted by the training community world-wide. The WARSIM 2000 acquisition must allow the confederation of simulations structure to evolvein a manner that allows current users (Army and international) to maintain access to the confederation without having to make a substantial near-term investment in resources. (2) Meeting the WARSIM 2000 requirements will demand significant technological innovations. However, there are many existing and developing systems that could and should be part of the overall solution. The acquisition strategy must ensure that developers optimize the investment of each service in existing systems (instead of starting from a blank sheet of paper) and insert technology into the training environment in a way that improves training. (3) Fielding of new capabilities, whether they be functional representations or technological enhancements, must be either practically transparent to the user or be accompanied by training so the user can understand and receive the benefit of the new capabilities. (4 The acquisition strategy must allow for regular user involvement in the development process. User evaluations and requirements must serve as a primary source for determining changes to the system. 2. Threat. Rather than counter a specific threat, WARSIM will provide a training environment capable of representing threats from across the operational continuum.3. Shortcomings of Existing Systems. Current simulations were designed for training corps and division staffs on command and control techniques fo...