Eligibility
The SEA course is for E-8/E-9s. Thus, Pay Grades E-8/E-9 of any Service, including our International Service partners, are fully eligible (to include ‘frocked’ E-8s). Army, Air Force, Marine, and Coast Guard personnel should refer to their respective Service’s procedures for funding to attend at the Navy SEA.
The SEA allows a limited number of Navy E-7s in each class. See pull-down below.
E-7 Eligibility Requirements (Mandatory)
Click to Open E-7 eligibility requirements to attend the SEA are as follows:
- Pay Grade E-7 must provide a Commanding Officer’s (CO) endorsement letter that certifies the following:
- Member has completed Professional Military Education (PME) prerequisite.
- Member is time-in-rate eligible for E-8,
- Member is recommended for advancement by the current CO, and
- Member is an Early Promote (EP), or is the #1 or #2 Must Promote (MP) on their most recent competitive Chief's evaluation.
- Additionally, the CO's endorsement must include the statement "I fully support CPO Sailor to attend the SEA and I acknowledge s/he meets all eligibility requirements (e.g., PME prerequisite completed, BCA within standards, etc.") or explain the reason for not meeting any of the above requirements.
- Email CO’s endorsement letter to the SEA Registrar at registration.sea@usnwc.edu.
For a sample CO's endorsement letter for E-7s, click here.
Registration
All eligible applicants will self-register via the Empower registration tool.
Step 1: Register for an Empower Account (Click to Expand)
Click to Open Apply for an account in Empower, the Naval War College's student management database. Save or Submit: You can "Save" your Empower application for up to two weeks if you do not have all the required application information. Partial applications over two weeks old will be deleted.
Note: If your Empower Account was setup prior to April 15, 2016 then you must update your Empower account before your CAC login will work. See Empower Account Setup before April 15, 2016 below for more information.
Register For An Empower Account Empower Account Setup before April 15, 2016
If your Empower Account was set up prior to April 15, 2016 then you must update your Empower account before your CAC login will work.
To update your existing Empower account, contact the Naval War College help desk at (401) 841-4900 or support@usnwc.samanage.com. Request your Empower account to be updated with your DoD ID Number. Look just above the barcode on the backside of your CAC.
Note: It may take up to 24 hours for the update to take effect. Once updated, you will be able to log into Empower with your CAC and enroll in a class with open seats.
Enrollment
Once you receive the email stating your Empower account has been established, you can enroll in any SEA class with open seats. Your Empower username will also be your Blackboard username, so keep it handy.
The SEA uses two enrollment methods to fill its classes, targeted enrollment and open enrollment. Initially there are limited quotas for various types of students (e.g., Navy TAD E-8/E-9, Navy PCS E-8/E-9, Partner Services, Navy E-7s with CO’s Endorsement Letter on file at SEA, and Navy SELRES-AT/ADT just to name a few). The purpose of targeted enrollment is to ensure diversity within each class. However, in practice not all quotas are filled. All unused quotas are made available during open enrollment.
E-7 ALERT: As of July 2017, all “targeted enrollment” quotas for E-7s have been filled. If you are an E-7, your only hope to get into an FY-18 class is via its Open Enrollment period.
Step 2: Enroll in a Class (CAC Required)
Click to Open Applicants must enter the type of orders they will travel under. Each class has a restricted number of quotas offered based the type of orders. Here are the types of orders you can select from:
- USN E-8/E-9 on TAD orders – Visit the SEA website and register for an Empower account. When approved, you can select a quota from an available class. (CAC required to select a class.)
- USN E-8/E-9 on PCS orders or following on to CMC/COB – Detailer must put you on orders. Visit the SEA website and register for an Empower account. When approved, you can select a quota from an available class. (CAC required to select a class.)
- USNR (Reserve) on ADT/AT orders only – Visit the SEA website and register for an Empower account. When approved you can select a quota from an available class. (CAC required to select a class.)
- Non-US Navy including our International Service partners – Your service Training Officer MUST approve your request advise the SEA of acceptance. Visit the SEA website, register for an Empower account, then select a quota from an available class.
- All E-7s must first meet Eligibility requirements to register for an Empower account. When approved, only then can they enroll in a class with open seats. (CAC required to select a class.) If no classes are visible in Empower, then all E-7 quotas have been filled for the year. In that case, see Open Enrollment for possible options.
SEA Enrollment Instructions Open Enrollment
Click to Open All unused quotas are made available on a first-come-first served basis on Monday at 0800 Eastern Time (ET), three weeks before the class's official start date. If this day falls on a Holiday, then open enrollment shifts to that Tuesday. We routinely have between 10 and 20 quotas each class that fall into this category. If a class you initially wanted is filled, then mark your calendar and check back in Empower three weeks before that particular class' start date at 0800 ET. But don't be late! In practice, all seats are filled in under 20 minutes. Once all seats are filled, open enrollment for that class ends.
FY-18 Open Enrollment dates:
| Class | Open Enrollment |
| 209 | Jul 31, 2017 |
| 210 | Sep 11, 2017 |
| 211 | Oct 23, 2017 |
| 212 | Nov 27, 2017 |
| 213 | Jan 16, 2018 |
| 214 | Feb 20, 2018 |
| 215 | Mar 26, 2018 |
| 216 | Apr 30, 2018 |
| 217 | Jun 25, 2018 |
Blackboard
Click to Open Note: Students gain access to the course in Blackboard (Bb) on the Wednesday prior to the actual class convening date. Students lose access to Bb 30 days after graduation (i.e., 30 days after the last day of in-residence).
Please click https://navalwarcollege.blackboard.com and enter your username and password, instructions below:
- Your username is your first name.last name (Example - MICHAEL.PAROLA).
- New Blackboard users, please use the 'Forgot Your Password?' link and enter your first name, last name and the above username, you will then receive an e-mail with a link to create your password.
Previous Naval War College Blackboard users, continue to use the password you have been using.
If you need further assistance with resetting your password, contact NWC IRD Helpdesk at helpdesk@usnwc.edu
Contact
If you have any questions, please contact us directly: