Newport, R.I. – U.S. Naval War College's (NWC) Maritime Advanced Warfighting School (MAWS) graduated 33 during a ceremony held at the college on Sept. 7. Rear Adm. Jeffrey Harley, NWC’s president, delivered remarks to the graduates.
“Today, we celebrate the 19th student group to graduate from our Maritime Advanced Warfighting School,” said Harley. “The Navy, our sister services, DOD, and the U.S. government truly need and must have more strategic thinkers and planners just like you.”
The purpose of the course is to teach naval and joint operational planning and leadership skills to selected active duty officers for follow-on assignment to numbered fleet, service component or joint force operational staffs. MAWS is a peer school of the Army School of Advanced Military Studies, the Marine Corps School of Advanced Warfighting, and the Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies.
Harley continued on to say how the students provided real world and timely support as well as developed exceedingly competent and thorough plans to address extreme challenges in the Pacific and Europe-Africa Theaters of Operations.
MAWS students complete an integrated syllabus including core courses, Theater Security Decision Making, Strategy and Warfare, and Joint Maritime Operations; three elective courses tailored to operational art theory, operational planning process, and major operations/campaigns; and a three-month capstone planning project in direct support of Navy and joint operational commanders. MAWS graduates are awarded with a Master of Arts degree in Defense and Strategic Studies, a NWC diploma, Joint Professional Military Education Phase I certification, and designation as joint operational planners.
As a Chief of Naval Operations-directed, 13-month, advanced warfighting curriculum, MAWS started at NWC in 1998. Following the Sept. 7 graduation, MAWS will have graduated 5 students to include 62 Army, 342 Navy, 56 Marine Corps, 71 Air Force, four Coast Guard service members, and six Defense Intelligence Agency analysts.
The September 2018 MAWS graduates commenced their studies in August 2017. They will be assigned to operational planner tours either immediately or following warfare community assignments.
NWC is an upper-level professional military education institution educating and developing leaders, helping define the future of the Navy, supporting combat readiness, and strengthening maritime partnerships. Established in 1884, NWC is the oldest institution of its kind in the world. More than 50,000 students have graduated since its first class of nine students in 1885 and about 300 of today’s active duty admirals, generals and senior executive service leaders are alumni.