It's a pleasure to welcome you to National Defense University's Class of 2023. You will find the year ahead to be professionally and personally rewarding. During your time here, you will be interacting with colleagues from across the U.S. interagency as well as with our many International Fellows as we embrace a mixture of people, cultures, and ideas. Our world-class faculty and staff are committed to providing you an inclusive learning environment that is intellectually challenging and academically rigorous -- this is a unique opportunity for you to study, reflect, and hone your abilities as a strategic thinker and leader across many disciplines. 

As an in-residence institution, we have smartly and safely combined in-person instruction and engagement with the very successful virtual learning environment we have adopted over the last two academic years. We seek to merge the best of in-person and virtual academic delivery into a flexible hybrid model that can rapidly adapt to changing health protection conditions as warranted, while continuing to provide you with the same superb quality of education for which the "University of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff" is renowned. 

Finally, I encourage you to visit this webpage often, as we are constantly updating and adding key information to help you make a smooth transition to your new assignment. 

We look forward to your arrival and we are excited about accompanying you on your educational journey during the upcoming academic year. 

Sincerely Yours,

Effective 4 March 2022, mask-wearing indoors at NDU facilities at Fort McNair and NSA Hampton Roads is OPTIONAL, unless you have been exposed to—or are recovering from—COVID. Individuals may still choose to wear a mask. If you have been exposed to or are recovering from COVID, our Health & Fitness team can advise you on mask-wearing requirements. Due to high community spread, face masks at Fort Bragg for CISA-JSOMA are still REQUIRED by all personnel indoors regardless of vaccination status. This guidance applies to all military personnel, civilian employees, on-site contractors, temporarily assigned personnel, and visitors on board any DoD installation or facility.

This decision is based on new CDC guidance for community levels.  Both Fort McNair and NSA Hampton Roads are currently rated LOW, while Fort Bragg community levels are rated HIGH. 

All other force health protection measures remain in place, to include: physical distancing of 3 feet (6 feet if unvaccinated), and room occupancy percentages (currently 65% with our HPCON B waiver).  We will continue to review our University health status at the weekly NDU COVID update. 

Please review the following documents:

• "Department of Defense Coronavirus Disease 2019 Force Health Protection Guidance" (4 April 2022) -- which supersedes and consolidates much previous guidance
• "Updated Guidance for Mask and Screening Testing for all Department of Defense Installations and Other Facilities" (March 1, 2022)

NDU is dedicated to providing traditional classroom instruction to the maximum extent feasible. Accommodations for academic instruction are constantly changing as Federal and local guidelines are updated, and it will affect the delivery of the curriculum accordingly. Please check this website often.

If you have been physically present on the NDU campus and have subsequently begun experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, tested positive for COVID-19, or been notified that you have come into contact with someone confirmed or suspected of having COVID-19, please immediately:

1. Complete form DD3112, "Personnel Accountability and Assessment Notification for a Public Health Emergency";
2. Send the form via encrypted email to NDU’s Health and Fitness Directorate at COVID@ndu.edu; and,
3. Call NDU's Health and Fitness Directorate at (202) 685-2791, and alert them them that you have sent the form via encrypted email.