The Naval War College bases its programs on three core courses (Strategy and War,
National Security Decision Making and Joint Maritime Operations). The College of
Distance Education offers the same courses as adaptations of the resident offerings,
the difference being in the style of presentation. Students may complete individual
courses through either program. In addition, they may transfer between seminar sites
and from seminar to correspondence. Courses may be completed in any sequence.
Strategy and War (S&W)
This course is founded on the Clausewitzian premise that "war is a continuation
of policy with the addition of other means." Strategy is the bridge that connects
the state’s goal with the operations of its military forces. Students are familiarized
with the fundamentals of foreign policy and military (joint and combined) strategy.
In addition, the course assists students in developing a coherent framework for
analysis of decisions involving the use of force to achieve national objectives.
The course is presented through a series of historical case studies examining specific
examples of strategic-political interaction. The course, however, is definitely
not intended to be a study of history for its own sake. The case study topics have
been carefully chosen to focus on historical situations that illustrate the enduring
and recurring concerns of the strategist. The principal concerns interwoven throughout
the course are:
- the political determinations and objectives of war
- the alternatives to war as an instrument of policy
- the international environment, institutions, and alliance structures through which
policy, strategy and military operations interact
- the comparative merits of joint and combined warfare strategies and operations
- civil-military relations in peace and war, all examined with reference to political
and strategic problems and options.
National Security Decision Making (NSDM)
The National Security Decision Making course educates students in the effective
selection and leadership of armed forces within national resource constraints. The
course provides instruction in: the strategic planning and selection of future military
forces; systematic approaches to programmatic resource choices under conditions
of high uncertainty; and the nature of economic, political, organizational and behavioral
factors affecting selection and command of military forces. Areas selected for special
attention are:
- the changing economic, political and military environments affecting national security
- major joint military force planning, concepts, issues and choices
- the structure and process for planning and programming joint military forces and
the interface of that process with the federal budgeting process
- a conceptual understanding of the types of analysis underlying many DOD resource
allocations decisions
- political, organizational, and behavioral influences on national security decision
making and implementation
- strategic leadership and management of large, complex national security organizations.
Joint Maritime Operations (JMO)
The Joint Maritime Operations (JMO) Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) Phase I Course is an in-depth study of the operational level of war throughout the range of military operations. This course meets the Officer Professional Military Education Policy (OPMEP) requirements and complements the learning objectives of the National Security and Decision Making (NSDM) and Strategy and War (S&W) curricula. Where NSDM and S&W emphasize our national military strategy development as well as a nation’s imperative for matching strategic goals to policy, using historical and current case studies, JMO is a practitioner’s course which prepares students to excel in the operational arena and to excel through effective operational planning and joint force application to achieve appropriate military objectives. Although maritime and sea service contributions are emphasized, all Services’ capabilities are studied with ultimate focus on joint operations from the combatant and joint task force commander levels. Via extensive study of numerous case studies, the JMO student is challenged with four enduring questions from the perspective of a joint task force commander and his staff planners:
- What military (or related political and social) conditions must be produced in the operational arena to achieve the strategic goal? (Ends)
- What sequence of actions is most likely to produce that condition? (Ways)
- How should the resources of the joint force be applied to accomplish the desired sequence of actions? (Means)
- What is the likely cost or risk to the joint force in performing that sequence of actions?
The ability to answer these questions is the very essence of the Joint Maritime Operations course.
|