The 1975 Clements Blue Ribbon Panel on Excellence in professional military education cited a need for service schools to develop curricula that stressed warfighting.  The panel noted that service schools needed to sharpen students’ knowledge of decision-making in combat.

In 1976, the Air Force Chief of Staff’s CONSTANT READINESS Tasking directed the development of intensive courses and methods for instruction in warfighting.  In short, the tasking directed AU to “put more war in the War College.”  From these two initiatives evolved the concept for the Air Force Wargaming Institute (AFWI).

In September 1982, the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management established a program management office at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, to acquire a comprehensive wargaming capability for the Air Force.  The facility was dedicated and opened its doors in 1986.

In 2007, AFWI’s parent organization, the College of Aerospace Doctrine Research and Education merged with the Air Force Doctrine Center, to become The LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education.

Today, this wargaming capability consists of the personnel, facility, and hardware and software necessary to provide a broad range of wargames and exercises to the Air Force (AF), the Department of Defense (DOD) and other international sponsors.  AFWI also supports AF and Joint Title 10 Exercises, Experiments and Wargames.  A full scope of AFWI's programs and responsibilities can be found below.