College of Distance Education

OVERVIEW

Welcome to the College of Distance Education (CDE). CDE represents the Naval War College’s outreach program. We exist to provide executive-level education to officers of the various military services and to senior Department of Defense and other Federal employees. We offer two delivery methods: faculty-led evening seminars and a web-enabled correspondence program. These courses mirror to a large degree the program of study offered to resident students at the College’s Newport campus. The quality of our CDE programs has been called "the best of any Service College." You may find that they are more rigorous and academically demanding than many off-duty educational experiences elsewhere. So if you want to work hard, learn a lot, and earn graduate credit, a diploma, and Joint Professional Military Education (Phase 1) credit, and possibly even a master's degree . . . this may be the program for you! I invite you to think about what we offer and contact us if you need more information.

We are proud of our programs and truly believe that they can make a difference in your success in future assignments! If you’re looking for a challenge, with clear rewards at the end of the line... we may be what you are looking for!

Timothy H. Jackson
Director, College of Distance Education

MISSION

The mission of the College of Distance Education is to develop and administer an extension of the education program of the College of Naval Command and Staff to nonresident military officers and selected government employees. We are committed to:

* Providing an opportunity for students to obtain a Naval War College diploma by completion of a Fleet Seminar or web-enabled Correspondence Course program paralleling the educational quality of the resident program.

* Providing the student a graduate-level faculty of the highest caliber.

* Supporting the educational needs of all of our students.

* Meeting the objectives of the Military Education Policy Document.

* Achieving quality and continuous improvement.

PROGRAM for JOINT EDUCATION CERTIFICATION

Military students are selected to attend the College of Naval Command and Staff by their respective services. In general, all officers who attend the College of Naval Command and Staff will have bachelor's degrees--historically, on average, almost half will already have been awarded master's degrees, will have compiled outstanding performance records during their 12 to 15-year service careers to date, and will be considered to possess the potential for future achievement and promotion within their respective services and in the joint arena. While each service has its own selection process, in the case of the U.S. Navy, each annual board convened to select officers for promotion to lieutenant commander then proceeds to choose candidates for the College of Naval Command and Staff from among those lieutenant commander selectees. Attendance by civilian officials is by invitation to their Federal agencies, who in turn nominate their respective candidates using similar selection criteria.

CLASS PROFILE

BACKGROUND: Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) is that portion of Professional Military Education concentrating on the instruction of joint matters in order to develop officers skilled in attaining unity of efforts across Services, interagency, non-governmental and multinational lines among other things. The Goldwater Nichols Act, which became law in 1986, requires the completion of a joint duty assignment for promotion to 0-7. JPME is that portion of Professional Military Education (PME) that supports fulfillment of the educational requirements for joint officer management.

Educational requirements for Joint Staff Officer (JSO) qualification can be met through the completion of either an accredited resident or nonresident JPME Phase I curriculum followed by the applicable Joint Forces Staff College JPME Phase II curriculum or through one of the National Defense University Senior-Level JPME curricula. The Naval War College nonresident programs have been accredited as intermediate level JPME Phase I programs.

The Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, has certified each Naval War College nonresident program for JPME Phase I credit. In addition, Phase I certification awarded to the NWC nonresident program graduate meets a prerequisite for acceptance into the Joint Forces Staff College, Phase II course. Appendix A reiterates JPME goals and objectives for intermediate level schools.

cde@nwc.navy.mil