MONTEREY, Calif. -- The U.S. Naval War College (NWC) Monterey Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) program celebrated its 73rd graduating class at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), Dec. 7.
Since September of 1999, NWC has partnered with NPS to provide nearly 5,000 officers with a rigorous educational program designed to make them more effective in joint assignments and in working with other services.
Chairman of the NWC Monterey program, Fred Drake, presided over the ceremony that included a total of 97 U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Army officers earning their NWC Command and Staff diploma with JPME phase I certification.
Also addressing the group was the NWC Monterey associate chair, Dave Overton.
“Moving on to your next assignment will include a responsibility to soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, and the civil service personnel serving with you,” said Overton. “The security of our nation relies on a commander’s ability to think critically and to apply the operational and cognitive approaches that are supported by your newfound skills, knowledge, experience, creativity and judgement to develop campaigns and operations.”
The JPME program is a two-part collection of learning objectives designed to fulfill the requirements for an officer to earn a Joint Specialty Officer (JSO) designation.
“This was a great way to take what I knew tactically and apply it to an operational and strategic level,” said Lt. Gerie Palanca, a student who following graduation will report to Navy Information Operations Command, Colorado. “It is a bittersweet moment to leave. I have met a lot of great people here and met a lot of knowledgeable mentors, but I am very excited to apply my knowledge to what comes next.”