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War Colleges

Air War College

This school, at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., is the senior professional school in the Air Force. The resident program consists of 10 months of graduate-level study, resulting in a master’s degree.

AWC educates about 265 resident students each year from all U.S. military services and federal agencies, and international officers from about 45 nations. Studies are divided into five core and four elective blocks of instruction, a regional studies seminar, a field trip and a graduate-level research project. The nonresident program serves about 6,000 people via correspondence and seminar.

Contact: (334) 953-2119; DSN 493-2119; http://www.maxwell.af.mil/au/awc/awchome.htm.

Army War College

The Army’s senior service college for civilian leaders, lieutenant colonels and colonels offers graduate-level education in a 10-month resident program and a two-year distance education program.

Instruction focuses on the strategic use of land power and its application in joint and combined operations. The college sponsors the Advanced and Strategic Arts Program and the National Security Policy Program.

Supporting institutions at the Carlisle Barracks, Pa., campus include the Center for Strategic Leadership; the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute; the Army Heritage & Education Center; and the Military History Institute.

Contact: The registrar for student information at (717) 245-4372, or the public affairs office at (717) 245-4101; http://www.carlisle.army.mil.

Marine Corps War College

The Marines’ 10-month senior service school provides Phase I (senior level) joint professional military education and offers students a master of strategic studies degree. Up to half of a student’s grade comes from participation in seminars and small-group discussions and debate.

Admissions are now based on 17 allocations split between officers in paygrades O-5 and O-6 and federal civilian employees in the GS-15 or GS-16 grades.

Contact: Director, MCU, 2076 South St., Suite 2, Quantico, VA 22134-5068; (703) 784-4081/4082; DSN 278-4081/4082; fax (703) 784-2384; http://www.mcu.usmc.mil/mcwar.

National Defense University

This institution offers advanced national security studies. At Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., are the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, the National War College, the Information Resources Management College, the Institute for National Strategic Studies, several regional centers and the university’s special academic programs. The Joint Forces Staff College is in Norfolk, Va.

Contact: (202) 685-3912; http://www.ndu.edu.

Naval War College

The senior Navy school, in Newport, R.I., is designed for O-5s and O-6s and career federal civilian equivalents.

The 10-month course focuses on three core areas of study: strategy and policy, national security decision making, and joint military operations. Qualified graduates are awarded master’s degrees in national security and strategic studies.

The school is home to four resident colleges: the College of Naval Warfare, the College of Naval Command and Staff, the Naval Command College and the Naval Staff College. Students are military officers from all services, career civilians from U.S. government agencies and foreign naval officers.

Contact: Dean of Students, 686 Cushing Road, Newport, RI 02841-1207; (401) 841-3373; http://www.nwc.navy.mil.