The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associated roles and missions, supports combat readiness, and strengthens global maritime partnerships.
The Naval War College is one of the senior service colleges including the Army War College, the Marine Corps War College, and the USAF Air War College. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Defense operates the National War College.
The college was established on October 6, 1884. Its president Commodore Stephen B. Luce was given the building that formerly housed the Newport Asylum for the Poor on Coasters Harbor Island in Narragansett Bay. Among the first four faculty members were Tasker H. Bliss, a future Army Chief of Staff; James R. Soley, the first civilian faculty member and a future assistant secretary of the Navy; and Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan, who became renowned for the scope of his strategic thinking and influence on naval leaders worldwide.
The College engaged in wargaming various scenarios beginning in 1887, and it became a laboratory for the development of war plans. Nearly all of the U.S. naval operations of the twentieth century were originally designed and gamed at the NWC.From its initial class of nine students in 1885, the college has grown to produce over 50,000 graduates. Its alumni network currently includes about 300 active-duty admirals, generals, and Senior Executive Service leaders. The institution's Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) programs focus on preparing these professionals for strategic and operational leadership, sharpening their skills as effective decision-makers and problem solvers.
College of Naval Command and Staff
The College of Naval Command and Staff (CNCS) is a multidisciplinary program designed for U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard officers in the grade of lieutenant commander, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Army, and U.S. Air Force officers in the grade of major, and civilians of equivalent seniority from various federal agencies. This intermediate level service college course provides an initial opportunity for joint professional military education wherein students prepare for increased responsibilities as commanders / lieutenant colonels, and as junior captains / colonels.
College of Naval Command and Staff students pursue studies in each of the Naval War College's three core subject areas in the following order of presentation: Strategy and War, Theater Security Decision Making, and Joint Maritime Operations. While this basic curriculum is essentially the same as that of the more senior students enrolled in the College of Naval Warfare, individual courses are tailored to the experience level and career needs of the CNCS's mid-grade officers. Each student in the College of Naval Command and Staff is also required to enroll in one Elective Program course of his or her choice per trimester. A limited number of students may, with selection committee approval, forego up to one trimester of the core curriculum to participate in the Center for Naval Warfare Studies' Advanced Research Program.
Beginning in 1914, NWC imparts its competent, executive-level programs beyond campus through its, now web-based, College of Distance Education (CDE). The three main CDE courses are Strategy and War, Theater Security Decision Making, and Joint Maritime Operations.
Maritime Advanced Warfighting School (MAWS)
Originally established in 1998 as the Naval Operational Planner Course, the Maritime Advanced Warfighting School (MAWS) is a 13-month program that educates U.S. officers of all services to:
Be operational planners and ultimately, operational leaders
Understand and apply maritime power effectively
Form and lead Operational Planning Teams (OPTs)
Think creatively and critically by developing solutions to complex, chaotic security problems
MAWS integrates the College of Naval Command and Staff core curriculum with specialized education and hands-on, real-world projects in the operational planning domain. MAWS is the U.S. Navy's peer school to the U.S. Army's School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS), the U.S. Marine Corps' School of Advanced Warfighting (SAW), the U.S. Air Force's School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS), and the Joint Forces Staff College's Joint Advanced Warfighting School (JAWS).
National Security Affairs Department
The National Security Affairs Department (NSA) curricula provide military officers and federal government civilians a foundation in contemporary security studies to analyze how the U.S. government makes foreign policy decisions and the role the U.S. plays in the world. This includes: the ability to develop and communicate analyses of current and emerging security issues facing the U.S. and its international partners and allies, the understanding of U.S. decision making dynamics at the strategic level, and the ability to assess political, budgetary, bureaucratic, organizational, and leadership factors influencing decision making and implementation of U.S. foreign policy and strategy development. In support of the Naval Command and Staff College, it teaches Theater Security Decision Making and in support of the College of Naval Warfare, it teaches National Security Decision Making.
The College of Naval Warfare is a multidisciplinary program designed for U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard officers in the grades of commander or captain, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force officers in the grades of lieutenant colonel or colonel, and civilians of equivalent seniority from various federal agencies. This senior level professional military education program provides students with executive-level preparation for higher responsibilities as senior captains / colonels and as junior flag officers / general officers.