NEWPORT R.I. – U.S. Naval War College’s (NWC) College of Maritime Operational Warfare has begun work to design a warfighter course to better prepare the college’s student military officers to think and excel at the operational level of war.
NWC professor Eric Dukat is leading the effort to build a curriculum based on academics, case studies and practical exercises that build in complexity.
“With the reemergence of peer competitors on the high seas, the CNO has directed the Navy to focus on fleet centric operations and increase our lethality across the maritime theater. All of our current maritime warfighting focus is at the strike group level and this warfighting course will focus on enabling staffs to orchestrate naval combat using multiple composite warfare groups across all domains of that theater,” said Dukat.
Keeping with guidance in the recently released National Defense Strategy, the course will “emphasize intellectual leadership and military professionalism in the art and science of warfighting, deepening our knowledge of history while embracing new technologies to counter competitors.”
“As a recognized center of higher maritime thought, the Naval War College fosters and combines warfare research, relevant intelligence, operational gaming, critical decision making and a historical perspectives into the cognitive strengths our future warfighting leaders will need to win the next major war at sea,” explained Dukat on why NWC was chosen to spearhead this project.
The course will include input from Fleet Warfighting Development Centers as well as expertise from throughout NWC to build relevant content that spans the spectrum of warfighting from theater anti-submarine warfare to space operations.
Curriculum from the course will be piloted at NWC in Newport in the summer of 2018 with regular convenings expected later in the year.