About the National War College
MISSION - HISTORY
- RECENT FACULTY PUBLICATIONS
ARTICLES ABOUT NWC - OTHER INFO
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MISSION OF THE NATIONAL WAR COLLEGE
The mission of the National War College is to prepare future leaders of the Armed Forces, State Department, and other civilian agencies for high-level policy, command, and staff responsibilities. To do this, NWC conducts a senior-level course of study in national security policy and strategy for selected U.S. and foreign military officers and federal officials.
The curriculum emphasizes the joint and interagency perspective. Reflecting this emphasis, 75 percent of the student body is composed of equal representation from the land, air, and sea (including Marine and Coast Guard) Services. The remaining 25 percent are drawn from the Department of State and other federal departments and agencies. In addition, international fellows from a number of countries join the student body.
The Commandant, a military officer of two-star rank, occupies a nominative position that rotates among the Army, Navy, and Air Force. As joint sponsor of the National War College, the Department of State nominates a foreign service officer with Ambassadorial rank to serve as the Commandant's International Affairs Adviser.
HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL WAR COLLEGE
According to Lieutenant General Leonard T. Gerow, President of the Board which recommended its formation, "The College is concerned with grand strategy and the utilization of the national resources necessary to implement that strategy... Its graduates will exercise a great influence on the formulation of national and foreign policy in both peace and war..." This theme is underscored with the inclusion of State Department, DoD, and other interagency representatives on the faculty and in the student body.
American experience in 20th Century wars has repeatedly shown that the complexity of planning and conducting global war plus joint and combined military operations required officers and civilians in government, inter-agencies, industry, and non-governmental organizations to be thoroughly familiar with each other's roles, functions, and missions. They also needed the skills to operate comfortably at levels in which key national security and strategy decisions would be made in peace and war. Since its inception, the National War College has proven invaluable in preparing its students for those responsibilities.
The College is located in Theodore Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, the oldest active Army Post in existence today. Established near the confluence of the Anacostia and Potomac rivers, it was originally designed to protect Washington from river invasions. Later, it was the site of the trial and subsequent hanging of four co-conspirators associated with President Lincoln's assassination. On 21 February 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone to the building which now bears his name. The building has been home to the Army War College (1907 - 1917, 1919 - 1940), War Plans Division, War Department General Staff, Selective Service System Headquarters, Headquarters U.S. Army Ground Forces (all successively during World War II), and the National War College (1946 - present). The first National War College class met on 1 September 1946. One hundred American and six foreign observers attended the school. In June 1974, this unique structure was designated a National Historic Landmark.
To date, over 7,500 students have graduated from the College. The number of U.S. and international graduates who have been promoted to the top of their services or civilian agencies of the government is an indicator of the importance of the National War College, but its most profound effect has been on individual thinking and intellectual growth.
SOME RECENT NWC FACULTY PUBLICATIONS
Joseph J. Collins, "Choosing War: The Decision to Invade Iraq and Its Aftermath," Occasional Papers, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University, 5 April 2008.
Michael J. Mazarr, "The Folly of 'Asymmetric War,'" The Washington Quarterly, Summer 2008.
Harvey Rishikof, "Juridical Warfare: The Neglected Legal Instrument," Joint Forces Quarterly, issue 48, 1st quarter 2008.
NEWS ARTICLES ABOUT THE NATIONAL WAR COLLEGE
Dick J. Nanto, Congressional Research Service, "The National War College Experience," 3 June 2008. (From the Congressional Research Service Intranet. Reproduced here with the permission of CRS.)
Drew Bratcher, "War Stories from Five Veterans," Washingtonian, 1 June 2008. One of the five veterans discussed is NWC faculty member Colonel B.A. Andrews (USAF), a fighter pilot shot down and captured in Iraq in 1991.
Joel Achenbach, "Military Theory and The Force Of Ideas: From Sparta to Baghdad, Paradigms Have Shifted. Human Nature Has Not," Washington Post, Sunday, March 23, 2003; Page F01.
MG Marne Peterson, USAF (then NWC Commandant), "America's National War College: Sixty Years of Educating Strategic Thinkers," Joint Forces Quarterly, issue 41, 2d quarter 2006 (commemorating NWC's 60th anniversary).
Janet Breslin-Smith, "A School for Strategy: The Early Years," Joint Forces Quarterly, issue 41, 2d quarter 2006 (commemorating NWC's 60th anniversary).
Paul Thompson, "The Legend of George F. Kennan," Joint Forces Quarterly, issue 41, 2d quarter 2006 (commemorating NWC's 60th anniversary).
Miguel Ricardo Reyes Cordero, "International Colleagues at the National War College," Joint Forces Quarterly, issue 41, 2d quarter 2006 (commemorating NWC's 60th anniversary).
NWC Crest: Historical Description
NWC 6oth Anniversary Celebration Brochure