'We Don't Have a Choice:' Military Exercises in 2021 Will Focus on This Big Problem Lt. Col. James Forrest operates a virtual-reality headset in support of the Advanced Battle Management System, or ABMS, Onramp, Sept. 2, 2020, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (Daniel Hernandez/U.S. Air Force) 23 Dec 2020 War-gaming how and where data moves may not sound as exciting as planning a top-secret infiltration mission. But leaders must understand how quickly troops and their equipment can communicate when up against an enemy. For the next year, the services will be running data-heavy exercises to determine how much and how fast data can be pushed through to warfighters.