College of Maritime Operational Warfare Graduates Spring Executive Level Operational Level of Warfare Course

NEWPORT, R.I. – The U.S. Naval War College (NWC) graduated 17 students from the Executive Level Operational Level of Warfare Course (ELOC) at its Newport, Rhode Island, campus on March 20, 2026.

ELOC is part of a series of Professional Military Education (PME) courses for personnel in operational-level staff planning and operations, preparing senior officers and civilians enroute to leadership positions in the Maritime Operations Center (MOC) within Fleet Navy staffs.

The course includes classified sessions on operational functions and concepts as well as discussions with current numbered fleet commanders.

"This course at the U.S. Naval War College is one of the many tangible ways in which we're preparing warfighters to lead and win at the operational level,” said NWC President Rear Adm. Darryl Walker. “These are senior military officers on their way to Maritime Operations Centers at numbered fleets and staffs overseeing fighting forces in some of the most dynamic and challenging theaters on the planet. It's crucial they report to those duty stations ready to download rapidly evolving information from warfare commanders across all domains and make split-second decisions in support of their commander. The U.S. Naval War College prepares them to do so."

Each ELOC course lasts for one week and there are three held per year in the Summer, Winter and Spring, respectively. This is designed so that students can attend classes before or on their way to Maritime Operations Centers (MOC) and fleet staff assignments.

ELOC is part of NWC’s College of Maritime Operational Warfare (CMOW), which aims to improve the capability of Navy commanders to lead maritime, Joint and multinational forces as well as improve the capability of Navy staff members to plan, execute, assess and function cohesively as a MOC.

Established in 1884, NWC is the oldest institution of its kind in the world. The college delivers excellence in education, research and outreach, informing today’s decision makers, educating tomorrow’s leaders and engaging partners and allies on all matters of naval power in order to preserve the peace, respond in crisis and win decisively in war.