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U.S. Army War College Senior Level College Curricula
Successful completion of either the distance or resident Senior Level College program leads to the award of a U.S. Army War College Diploma and, for qualified graduates, the Master of Strategic Studies Degree. Both the resident and distance education programs prepare students for strategic level leadership, although the delivery systems are different. The Resident Education Program consists of a six core courses, the Strategic Decision Making Exercise, five elective courses, and the National Security Seminar. The Distance Education Program consists of a series of ten on-line courses and two, two-week resident courses, taken over a two-year period. The Resident Education Program consists of a six core courses, the Strategic Decision Making Exercise, five elective courses, and the National Security Seminar. Each student also must complete a Strategy Research Project. A number of Special Programs (voluntary, for credit) are available to selected students as part of the core or elective curriculum. Numerous complementary programs (voluntary, not for credit) are available.
Strategic Thinking (ST), an interdisciplinary course, focuses on the cognitive domain of strategic leadership, and reorients participants to good habits of graduate level scholarship appropriate for stewards of a profession. The course emphasizes lifelong learning through increased self, organizational, and environmental awareness. It also provides a foundation for self-directed learning throughout the year and for future assignments. Theory of War and Strategy (TWS) prepares students for service at the strategic level through the study of war and strategy. The course emphasizes a theoretical approach to war and strategy and sets the intellectual framework for all subsequent courses. The course introduces political science and international relations theory to give the students the necessary tools and models from those disciplines to think about conflict as well as an understanding of the causes and uses of war. It then examines a wide range of theories of war and strategy with emphasis on the strategic level. Strategic Leadership (SL) helps students appreciate the uniqueness of the strategic leadership environment and the required knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to lead in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment. It builds on the Strategic Thinking Course by applying strategic thinking skills to assess and creatively address the many challenges facing strategic leaders, to include scanning for future trends and issues, managing and changing organizational culture, leading the profession, establishing a positive command climate within the senior leader team, and making strategic and ethical decisions. National Security Policy and Strategy (NSPS) prepares students for service at the strategic level through the examination of key national security issues, national security policy and strategy formulation, the instruments of national power and the U.S. Government processes for integrating, balancing and synchronizing the instruments of power in promoting and protecting the national interest. Additionally, students examine key national strategy documents to include the National Security Strategy (NSS), National Defense Strategy (NDS) and the National Military Strategy (NMS) are examined as products of the strategy formulation process. Theater Strategy and Campaigning (TSC) focuses on theater strategic warfare and Combatant Commands. Using a realistic future scenario that examines both conventional and irregular warfare, TSC addresses vexing and complex problems associated with war, operations other than war, unified and multinational operations, and stability operations. The course examines on the fundamentals of theater warfare and design of a theater campaign plan. It provides the doctrinal basis for employment of national elements of power with an emphasis on military capabilities. The course addresses Campaign Design; the need for the Commander to frame the problem and provide a vision for subordinates; courses of action development, war-gaming, and selection; strategic concept; and Combatant Commander concept of operations. Joint Processes and Landpower Development (JPLD) provides students the tools necessary to understand how strategic guidance is used to develop trained and ready combat forces for the Combatant Commanders. It addresses the systems and processes used by OSD, Military Departments, and the Joint Staff in terms of the underlying purposes for the systems and processes and the specifics of how they operate today. It includes the ability to assess current systems and make improvements. Strategy Research Project (SRP) Strategic Decision Making Exercise (SDME): The SDME is an experiential learning vehicle for USAWC students to apply the concepts, processes, methodologies, and knowledge gained earlier in the core curriculum. The exercise builds on the core courses and provides students the opportunity to distinguish the uniqueness of strategic level leadership and apply skills and competencies required of strategic leaders. A credible and complex virtual environment challenges students to use senior leadership skills and to apply and evaluate several interrelated strategic processes: the Interagency policymaking process, the Crisis Action Planning (CAP) process, the Multinational Coordination process, and the Resourcing process. Set in the future, SDME includes multiple crises (ranging from major combat operations to humanitarian assistance and stability operations, to domestic response, to terrorism and natural disasters) to stress these integrated strategic processes. National Security Seminar (NSS), the capstone event of the academic year, is an outreach to civilian leaders across America, providing them an opportunity to become better acquainted with the U.S. Army War College and prospective future leaders of our Armed Forces. The Seminar includes 160 New Members, a diverse group of American citizens from across the country intentionally selected for having little or no knowledge of the military, who come from a wide range of occupations. During this week-long event nationally known guest speakers provide a different focus topic for each day. As a capstone, the Seminar allows students to synthesize their year of professional study, while also better understanding the views of the society they serve. Elective Courses: Upon conclusion of the core courses, students are required to take five elective courses, one of which is a Regional Study Elective. Electives provide students with instruction in a specialized subject which builds on the knowledge gained during their core courses. Electives are designed to provide the opportunity for greater depth of study with an expert in a specific area of professional or personal interest. USAWC offers approximately 100 electives each year. Special Programs
Advanced Strategic Art Program (ASAP) focuses at the nexus between national wartime strategy and theater strategy. Through a focused curriculum, ASAP provides selected U.S. students with an appreciation of strategic art, theater design and campaign planning skills, and a deep understanding of the policy-strategy interface. Enhanced skills in campaign planning result from in-depth and exercises. Military history offers a laboratory through which the students gain greater insights. Nationally and internationally renowned subject matter experts, exercises, field trips, and staff visits to key elements of the Interagency reinforce student learning. National Security Policy Program (NSPP) provides carefully selected volunteer students with a detailed understanding of the contemporary U.S. Government national security policymaking environment, a thorough foundation in the theoretical framework of national security public policy decision making, and the fundamentals for the actual craft of national security policymaking and implementation. NSPP provides students with practical application tools for the national/theater level policy planner. To the extent possible, NSPP utilizes actual case studies, guest speakers who have been policy practitioners, and student participation in policy-based exercises. Students travel to relevant agencies, to include five-seven days with the Washington, DC, interagency and a four-day trip to selected combatant commands as well as a five-day internship within the Washington Interagency. The culminating research project is a student crafted policy proposal for a real world issue for the Joint Staff, J5. Joint Warfighting Advanced Studies Program (JWASP) is an intensive three-elective program that prepares students to effectively lead and participate in envisioning, planning, and executing joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational operations in support of a multi-national force commander. Studies focus on the challenges facing contemporary commanders through the study of senior joint/combined command, strategic "hotspots," and the operational design, organization, and execution of theater level campaigns across the spectrum of warfare. The study of contemporary joint and combined force employment provides a basis for understanding current doctrine and practices while focusing on applying these principles to the operational environment of the 21st century. Joint Land, Aerospace, and Sea Simulation (JLASS) is a two-elective course that provides experiential learning through a dynamic simulation designed to challenge future strategic leaders. All Senior Level Colleges participate in the program. JLASS includes a classroom and distributed phase conducted from January through April, focused on integrated development (with students from the other SLCs) of Interagency and Geographic Combatant Commander campaign plans, and a one-week execution phase (war game) held at the Maxwell AFB, AL. The Distance Education Program consists of a series of ten on-line courses and two resident courses, taken over a two-year period. The program is comparable to the Resident Education Program, utilizes the same institutional learning objectives, and also leads to the award of the USAWC Diploma and the Master of Strategic Studies Degree.
Orientation assists students in configuring their computers and provides an introduction to the learning methods and expectations of the Department of Distance Education, such as critical thinking, graduate level writing, and online forum participation. The orientation requires students to enter biographical data, participate in an online forum discussion, create an individual learning plan, and complete a 500-word essay for writing assessment. A voluntary orientation program held at Carlisle Barracks in addition to the online course. Strategic Leadership challenges students to integrate the roles of Strategic Leader, Strategic Theorist, and Strategic Practitioner. The course examines conceptual, interpersonal, and technical competencies need by strategic leaders to assess the strategic environment and apply strategic leadership fundamentals. Strategic leadership provides students with essential principles that recur throughout the Distance Education Program. International Relations and the Use of Power examines international relations theory, including the prominent realist, liberal, and constructivist schools of thought. It also looks at the various actors of the international system, such as states, international organizations, and multinational corporations. Befitting a professional development school, the course emphasizes military power but economic, legal, and other examples of "soft" power have gained prominence in recent years. National Security Policy and Strategy examines the origins, formulation, and execution of U.S. foreign and security policy, making the connection between external and domestic influences and the traditions of the United States. The course introduces methodologies for determining national interests and formulating national strategies, as well as competing models of decisionmaking. The course emphasizes the U.S. interagency process and the organization and operation of the National Security Council (NSC). Students gain a sharpened understanding of the current family of national strategic documents as well as the myriad actors and influences at play in the formulation of national policy. War and Military Strategy examines the history and theory of war and military strategy, providing students with a strategic level understanding of the military element of power. The fundamental nature and evolving characteristics of varying levels of conflict provide students with insights about how war and conflict shape strategic thought and military practice. Studying classic and contemporary masters of strategic thought provides a foundation for examining war and formulating current and future military strategy. Regional Issues and Interests examines important international challenges such as transnational crime and the international drug trade, poverty and development, disease, migration, energy security, security, and the environment. The course also examines the regional strategic appraisal process, with each student focusing on one of the following regions: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, Greater Middle East, and Russia/Eurasia. First Resident Course is an opportunity for students to examine the relationships between strategic leadership, international relations, national security policy and strategy, war and military strategy, and regional studies. A combination of guest lecturers, seminar discussions, exercises, agency visits in Washington, DC, a staff ride, and student regional strategic appraisal briefings create a dynamic learning environment. Students have the opportunity to utilize the USAWC Library and Military History Institute for research and to participate in the Leadership Feedback and Physical Fitness Assessment programs. DOD Organization, Planning, and Strategy examines how DOD organizes, plans, and obtains resources in support of national security objectives. Using current capstone doctrine, students obtain a working knowledge of the concepts and terms used when working in a joint, multinational and interagency environment. The course addressees the fundamentals of unified direction, the roles, relationships, functions of the President, SECDEF, CJCS, JCS, Combatant Commanders, Secretaries of the Military Departments and the Service Chiefs. Students also study doctrine for establishing joint commands, command relationships, command/control of joint and multi-national forces. The course examines the Joint Strategic Planning System and concludes with the joint processes for resourcing force structure down to the Combatant Command level. Joint and Multinational Operations I (Theater Operations) studies the development and execution of geographic combatant commanders' theater strategies and their enablers needed to fulfill the objectives of national strategy and policy. Using joint doctrine, recent historical case studies, and a practical application exercise to inculcate course objectives, Theater Operations builds upon national strategic direction concepts introduced in earlier courses, and sets the foundation for the study of joint operations and campaign planning in subsequent courses. Joint and Multinational Operations II (Campaign Planning and Operational Art) continues the warfighting segment of the curriculum. The course reinforces the fundamentals of operational art and joint doctrine for campaign planning. Students examine the employment of military forces to attain strategic and operational objectives through the design, organization and integration of theater campaigns. Students gain an understanding of the fundamentals of campaign planning and learn how to prepare key elements of a joint force commander's concept of operations. This course uses historical case studies and an exercise to reinforce key concepts and learning objectives. Contemporary Military Issues challenges students to examine concepts and ideas that will influence U.S. National Security and warfighting over the next 20 years. The course presents global "trends and shocks" that have implications for warfare in the 21st Century. Students examine globalization, net-wars, leveraging information in the operational environment, and network-centric operations that incorporate emerging land, sea, air, and space technologies in the context of theater-level warfare. Students investigate emerging issues associated with Defense, Joint, and Army Transformation. Second Resident Course (SRC): Strategic Leadership in Current and Future Warfare examines strategic leadership and its application to the use of military forces in current and future warfare. Students assess current issues facing the defense establishment, develop a better understanding of the interaction of the elements of power, and expand on their knowledge of the relationships between the Department of Defense and other organizations that influence the implementation of national security strategy (e.g., interagency, media, NGO, IO). The capstone event for the Distance Education Program, SRC builds upon and compliments the previous two years of study. Students attend lectures by current military and civilian leadership, participate in seminar discussions, staff rides, case studies, and exercises and exploit the full resources of the U.S. Army War College. During the second week, students participate with invited guests from industry and media, Capitol Hill staffers and government civilians to exchange ideas in the Strategy Implementation Seminar. |
