Also called: Defense Analyst, Strategic Gaming Specialist
Designs realistic war and crisis simulations that military and government leaders play to test strategies.
At places like RAND or the Naval War College, wargame designers build board-game-like simulations of conflicts, pandemics, or cyberattacks. Generals and officials play the roles, and analysts study what happens. It's strategy gaming as a real career.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Master's degree, about 7 years after high school. Master's or PhD in international security, operations research, or history.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Operations Research, International Relations, History, Mathematics, Political Science.
Growing about average. Operations research analysts growing quickly (approx.).
Medium risk for 10 years. AI can simulate many game runs; designing games and running human players through crises stays human.
Classes: AP World History, AP Statistics, Game design or CS.
Official data: O*NET occupation 15-2031.
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