In the 1950s and 1960s, the College led the Navy with innovative ideas for cooperative operations with other navies through the establishment of the Naval Command Course for senior international officers in 1956, the Naval Staff College for intermediate-level international officers in the 1970s, and the convening of regular biennial meetings of the world’s chiefs of navies in the International Sea Power Symposia from 1969 onward.
During the 1950s, the Naval War College curriculum adapted to meet the circumstances of the post–World War II and post–Korean War period. Chairs were established to emphasize the attention given to international relations, maritime strategy, military and diplomatic history, international law, and economics. The influence of rapidly changing technology was further recognized in the establishment of military chairs, occupied by senior officers especially qualified in such areas as submarine warfare, electronic warfare, air warfare, amphibious warfare, and surface warfare. The student body grew, with substantial student representation from the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, and many mid-career professionals from civilian agencies. This representation is also reflected in our faculty.
In 1972, under the leadership of Vice Admiral Stansfield Turner, a number of significant changes were instituted, including sharpening the curriculum’s focus on three academic areas. Over time, the names of the courses have changed slightly, but Turner’s general concept has remained over 35 years with concentration on strategy and policy, national security and decision-making, and joint military operations.
During this time, NWC established a full-time, highly qualified teaching civilian and military faculty; we adopted case study methodology and a more rigorous curriculum; and emphasized individual student effort. Concurrently, our student selection criteria became more stringent.
In 1981, nearly a century after Stephen B. Luce founded the Naval War College as “a place of original research on all questions relating to war and the statesmanship connected with war, or the prevention of war,” we established the Center for Naval Warfare Studies for broadly based, advanced research on the naval contributions to national strategy. The Center’s work informs and stimulates the faculty and students in the classroom as well as helping to link the College to the fleet and policy makers in Washington.
The College contributed substantially to the thinking behind the “Maritime Strategy” of the 1980s and the conduct of the Gulf War in 1990–91. In 1990, the Naval War College became the first of the nation’s staff and war colleges to reach academic standards that allowed for formal academic accreditation, leading to the authority to award its students a master of arts in national security and strategic studies.