The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army educational institution in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on the 500-acre (2 km²) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instruction to senior military officers and civilians to prepare them for senior leadership assignments and responsibilities. Each year, a number of Army colonels and lieutenant colonels are considered by a board for admission. Approximately 800 students attend at any one time, half in a two-year-long distance learning program, and the other half in an on-campus, full-time resident program lasting ten months. Upon completion, the college grants its graduates a master's degree in Strategic Studies.
Army applicants must have already completed the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, the required Professional Military Education for officers in the rank of major. While the Army handpicks most of the students who participate in the residential program, the student body always includes officers from the other military branches, civilians from agencies such as the Department of Defense, State Department, and National Security Agency, and officers from foreign countries who attend the program as International Fellows. For example, the residential Class of 2017 had 381 students: 218 active component officers and 61 reserve component officers from all five branches of the United States Armed Forces, 28 senior federal government civilians, and 74 International Fellows. Majors with the specialty of Function Area 59, Strategist, formerly Strategic Plans and Policy, also attend their qualification course, the Basic Strategic Arts Program (BSAP), at the college.
The Army War College is a split-functional institution. While a great deal of emphasis is placed on research, students are also instructed in leadership, strategy, and joint-service/international operations. It is one of the senior service colleges including the Naval War College and the Air War College. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Defense operates the National War College.
Mission
Army War College: "What Makes a General" 1957 US Army; The Big Picture TV-381 - The Big Picture TV Series playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_hX5wLdhf_Jwfz5l_3NRAcCYURbOW2Fl more at http://quickfound.net/links/military_news_and_links.html '"THE BIG PICTURE"...
According to U.S. Army regulation 10â€"44, the mission of the War College is "To prepare selected military, civilian, and international leaders for the responsibilities of strategic leadership; educate current and future leaders on the development and employment of landpower in a joint, multinational and interagency environment; conduct research and publish on national security and military strategy; and engage in activities in support of the Army’s strategic communication efforts."
History
Established from the principles learned in the Spanishâ€"American War, the College was founded by Secretary of War, Elihu Root, and formally established by General Order 155 on 27 November 1901. Washington Barracksâ€"now called Fort Lesley J. McNairâ€"in Washington, D.C. was chosen as the site. Theodore Roosevelt attended the Masonic laying of the cornerstone of Roosevelt Hall on 21 February 1903.
The first president of the Army War College was Major General Samuel B. M. Young in July 1902 and the first students attended the College in 1904.
During the presidency of Montgomery M. Macomb in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson accused students and staff of planning for taking part in an offensive war, even though the United States had not entered World War I. Wilson was unconvinced by Macomb's explanation that the college was concerned only with the intellectual growth and professional development of its students, and insisted that the school curtail its activities in order to ensure that the U.S. maintained its neutrality.
The College remained at Washington Barracks until the 1940s, when it was closed due to World War II. It reopened in 1950 at Fort Leavenworth, and moved one year later to its present location.
Center for Strategic Leadership
The Center for Strategic Leadership (CSL)'s areas of emphasis are experiential education, Senior Leader education, support to Army Senior Leader research, and support to both US Army War College (USAWC) and Army Senior Leader strategic communication efforts. CSL's professional staff and Collins Hall facility host, support, develop, and conduct world-class events (workshops, symposia, conferences, games, and exercises) focused on a broad range of strategic leadership and national security issues and concepts in support of the USAWC, the Army, and the Interagency and Joint Communities.
Basic Strategic Art Program
The Basic Strategic Art Program is one of the academic programs taught at the U.S. Army War College. When the program was founded in 2003, its purpose was to provide those officers who had been newly designated into Functional Area 59 (Strategist, formerly Strategic Plans & Policy) an introduction to strategy and to the unique skills, knowledge, and attributes needed as a foundation for their progressive development as army strategists. FA 59 officers have deployed to combat since the onset of the Global War on Terror in 2001. Since then, graduates of this program served in key positions in Iraq, Afghanistan, all combatant commands, and at the Pentagon.
Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute
The Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI) is located at the War College. The institute's mission is to serve as the U.S. Military’s Center of Excellence for Stability and Peace Operations at the strategic and operational levels in order to improve military, civilian agency, international, and multinational capabilities and execution.
Army Heritage Education Center
U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center
Strategic Studies Institute
Strategic Studies Institute
Notable alumni
See also
- Basic Strategic Arts Program
- Staff College
- United States Military Academy
- MSC Student Conference on National Affairs
- United States Army Command and General Staff College
- National War College
- Industrial College of the Armed Forces
- Naval War College
- Marine Corps War College
- Air War College
- Strategic Studies Institute
- The Institute of World Politics
- U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center
References
External links and sources
- Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College â€" the College's strategic and security research facility
- Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute website
- US Military Strategists Association
- Strategic Experiential Education Group â€" the College's Strategic Experiential Education Group
- The College's quarterly refereed journal (Parameters), for senior military professionals
- U. S. Army heraldic entitlements for the War College
- What Is the War College, Anyway?, a May 2004 article from Slate