About Art of Command

What is Art of Command?

July 6, 2026. Over the past several months, I've spent a great deal of time thinking about what Art of Command really is. When I first started the project, I thought I was building a game. Then I thought I was building Tactical Decision Games. Later, I thought I was building a YouTube channel. Today, I realize those things are all part of Art of Command, but none of them is its purpose.

After conversations with military professionals, historians, educators, wargamers, AI researchers, game designers and students from around the world, I've come to understand that each of those efforts is simply a different way of pursuing the same objective. They are not ends in themselves. They are tools.

Art of Command exists to help people think, decide and lead under uncertainty.

That realization has fundamentally changed how I think about the project.

Good commanders are rarely developed through information alone. Knowledge matters, but knowledge by itself is not enough. Judgment develops through repeated exposure to uncertainty, thoughtful reflection, discussion, mentorship and experience. Every generation has found different ways to cultivate those qualities. History, wargames, Tactical Decision Games, Decision-Forcing Cases, staff rides, mentorship and reflection each provide different opportunities to confront uncertainty, examine decisions and gradually develop judgment. These approaches are not competing philosophies. They are complementary methods of developing judgment.

Over time, I realized I had been asking myself the wrong question.

For years I focused on, "What game should I build?"

Today I find myself asking something much more important:

"What is the best way to help someone develop better command judgment?"

Sometimes the answer may be a tabletop game. Sometimes it may be a historical battle study. Sometimes it may be a Matrix Game or a Tactical Decision Game. Sometimes it may involve technologies that were unavailable only a few years ago. The format matters far less than the learning. That shift in perspective has gradually transformed Art of Command from a game project into something broader.

My long-term goal is no longer to build a single game or publish a collection of Tactical Decision Games. It is to help build a Command Learning ecosystem that brings together history, military theory, decision science, wargaming, education and artificial intelligence to help people practice one of the most difficult human skills: making good decisions when the situation is incomplete, ambiguous and constantly changing.

I don't believe command can be reduced to formulas or checklists. Every commander eventually encounters situations where doctrine provides guidance but not answers. Those moments demand judgment, not simply knowledge. Developing judgment has always been difficult because meaningful experience is expensive. Real command opportunities are limited. Failure can carry enormous consequences. No one gets to fight the same battle twice.

Recent advances in artificial intelligence have added another promising tool, but they do not change the underlying goal. The objective remains developing better judgment. Used wisely, these technologies have the potential to combine historical experience, thoughtful reflection, realistic decision making and individualized coaching in ways that were previously impractical, expanding access to meaningful command practice while preserving the timeless lessons history has always provided.

Technology will continue to evolve. History will continue to offer lessons. New educational methods will emerge.

But the need to think clearly, decide wisely and lead under uncertainty is timeless.

That is the Art of Command.

Reflections on Command

Commanders react to interpreted reality, not objective reality.

Command is not controlling everything; it is deciding where influence matters most.

Commanders navigate probabilities, not certainties.

Historical Inspiration

Art of Command strives to honor and respect the cultures it studies; in this case Hawaiian history and culture. 

Hawaii has a rich and underappreciated miitary and strategic history.