Women in Command

Women’s representation in defense and security remains disproportionately low worldwide, and Türkiye is no exception. By equipping women with defense knowledge and strategic skills, KızBaşına challenges traditional norms and creates opportunities for young women to lead in fields that have historically excluded them. 

Between May 2021 and May 2023, the Women in Command Project became Türkiye’s first civilian wargame initiative, “Hybrid Threat Rising,” designed to train female leaders in defense. Supported by NATO Public Diplomacy Division and the Turkish Ministry of Defense, the project combined wargaming with expert-led workshops in crisis management, foreign policy, and international law. Participants gained hands-on experience through decision-making scenarios based on real-world conflicts, collaborating internationally with institutions like NATO, Georgetown University, and UK Fight Club. 

With over 3 million online and 50,000 offline reach, it introduced Türkiye’s first women’s wargaming tournament, awarding winners with a visit to NATO HQ in Brussels. Garnering accolades such as the Serious Play Gold Medal and UK Women in Defence STEM Award, it achieved global recognition, featuring in prestigious conferences like Connections UK and NATO TIDE Sprint. The project successfully trained over 60 female leaders, creating an enduring legacy in women-led defense innovation.

Women in Command: Defense Academy

The Women in Command Defense Academy is an innovative project designed to empower Turkish youth, particularly women, in the fields of defense, peace, security, and counter-terrorism. By integrating an AI facilitator and pioneering wargaming techniques, the initiative offers an engaging, community-driven approach to defense education. With over 150 participants from across Türkiye, the project seeks to enhance women’s role in defense while fostering local wargaming communities.

Building on the success of the award-winning Women in Command project, the Defense Academy adds a transformative dimension by introducing new gameplay extensions and replayability to the original Women in Command wargame. These upgrades make the learning experience dynamic and adaptive, ensuring participants gain both practical skills and critical insights into defense and security issues.

Core Activities

  • Defense Master Classes in 5+ Cities
    These sessions, designed primarily for women, combine face-to-face strategic wargaming, gamified training, and community-building activities.

  • Defense & Security Kits
    Custom kits provide tools for gamified training, as well as resources for outreach activities like book and movie nights and expert-led academic writing workshops.

  • Events in Ankara
    Four interactive events (with at least 25 participants each) and a final Wargame Simulation Event with 50 participants.

The Defense Academy is not just about training—it’s about reshaping narratives. By creating safe, inclusive spaces for women to engage with defense and security, this initiative inspires young women to imagine themselves as leaders in these critical fields. It also ensures that the next generation approaches defense with fresh perspectives, integrating values of peace, inclusivity, and resilience.

In a world where security challenges grow more complex, empowering women to take an active role is not only meaningful—it’s essential. The Women in Command Defense Academy is a step toward a future where women lead with confidence and purpose in shaping peace and security.

The Women in Command: Defense Academy Project is funded by the US Embassy of Ankara. 

Timeline:
January-February: Application Period

March: Project Start

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Details of the previous project

Funded by the US Embassy of Ankara, The Women in Command Project brought to life the first wargame of Türkiye, called “Women in Command: Hybrid Threat Rising”, which is the first civil wargame of Türkiye with the theme of hybrid warfare and was developed for the purpose of directly training female leaders. The project aimed to support the education of learning outcomes gained by playing the Hybrid Threat Rising wargame, and through providing participants with workshops by experts in relevant fields, and additional education material.

Scope & Support:

The Women in Command Project is funded by the US Embassy of Ankara. The Peace and Security Conference of the project is supported by NATO Public Diplomacy Division.

Throughout the project, they participated in workshops presented by experts, on subjects such as crisis and resource management, foreign policy, conflict resolution, international criminal law, migration and many more. The workshops are supported with the Hybrid Threat Rising game where they learn about international armed and political conflicts through decision-making mechanisms modelled by real life events.

They enhanced their knowledge and build an international network through joint game events with various international universities from America to England as the project proceeds.

THE GAME’S FIRSTS:
• Turkiye’s firsts women in defense project to be supported by the Turkish MOD & NATO PDD
• Türkiye’s first civilian wargame with hybrid elements
• Türkiye’s first wargame designed to promote women leaders
• Türkiye’s first wargame to demo at any Connections event Türkiye’s first educational wargame designed by women
• NGO sector facilitator for the GIFCT Counter Terrorism Working Group
• First Turkish NGO to train the Land Warfare Academy of the Netherlands
• Türkiye’s First matrix wargame

Wargame Events
– Connections UK International Wargaming Conference 2021
– Connections OZ International Wargaming Conference 2022
– Women in IT Webinar organised by the US Embassy of Ankara
– Cyber Command of Netherlands
– Land Warfare Academy of Netherlands: training of 90+ 3rd and 4th year cadets
– Hybrid Threats and National Defense Symposium of Turkish Land Warfare Academy
– UK Fight Club’s Special Women’s Day Webinar on Successful Game Design
– NATO STO’s Tide Sprint Spring Conference in Sopot, Poland
– Georgetown University Wargaming Society
– Central Michigan University
– UK Civil Service
– UK Fight Club
– DSTL Wargaming Centre
– OR&A Conference 2022
– WIN (Wargaming Initiative NATO) Event 2022 in Paris, France
– WIN (Wargaming Initiative NATO) Event 2023 in Rome, Italy

Project Events

  • Hybrid Threat Rising Women’s Wargaming Tournament: World’s first women’s wargaming tournament (above high school level). With over 50 participants of the project’s Leader Women team, the participants played the Hybrid Threat Rising game for 2 days, with Turkish defence professionals as Jurys and observers.

    The first 3 winners and a Jury’s Choice have been selected to receive their awards at the Peace and Security Conference. These 4 Leader Women have also been granted the prize of visiting the NATO HQ in Brussels, Belgium.

  • Peace and Security Conference: Türkiye’s first Peace and Security Conference revolving around women’s issues and women’s participants. With 10 speakers from Turkish defense companies, NATO and academia; over 240 participants have attended this event to talk about:
    – Keynote by Morgan Kennedy – PolMil Unit Chief at US Embassy Ankara
    – Being a Leader Women in Defense – Beatriz Pino at NATO SHAPE GENAD
    – Women Participation in Peace
    – Career in Defense and Security

  • Mega Game Event: Türkiye’s first mega game event. 10 scenarios have been played during 6 hours, with over 60 participants from different sectors and organisations. During the exercise, defence professionals from Turkish military and defense companies have provided participants with background information and detailed explanations.

  • Women in Command: Humanity in Crisis Humanitarian Game: Designed as an extension to the award-winning Women in Command: Hybrid Threat Rising, the Humanity in Crisis is an agnostic humanitarian wargaming tool which can be included in any wargame on any level of war. The Humanity in Crisis extension guides the players through the exploration of humanitarian consequences of military actions; managing resources in order to provide the people with their most basic needs, logistics and resource management, civilian transit, managing the conflict between players and even establishing peace in certain parts of the conflict whenever possible.

Direct Outcomes
Reach
– 3.000.000 Online reach
– 50.000+ Offline reach

Beneficiaries:
– 60+ Leader Women from all regions of Türkiye
– 10+ Academic Webinars
– Movie Nights
– Debates
– Game Nights
– Access to the project Discord and WhatsApp channels
– Access to international events
– Access to monthly recap of defence, security and peace related events curated by the
project team
– Access to monthly ecap of defence, security and peace related news curated by the project team
– Equal Opportunity support for in-person events organised within the project

Awards & Successes:
• Awards
– International Serious Play 2022 Gold Medal
– Military Simulation & Training 2022 Winner of the Outstanding Serious Game for Learning
Award category.
– 2022 UK Women in Defence – STEM in Defence Award
• The Women in Command: Hybrid Threat Rising game has reach international recognition and has been played at 15+ national and international military, government and independent institutions with over 500 individuals.
• It figures in the United States Marine Corps – Brute Krulak Center for Innovation and Future Warfare’s #BruteCast! & in the Beyond Solitaire Podcast by Liz Davidson.

Timeline:
May 2021 – May 2023

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