Newport, R.I. - The U.S. Naval War College’s College of Maritime Operation Warfare (CMOW) began their new Maritime Headquarters Staff Course (MHSC) to military and civilian personnel. MHSC is an online synchronous and asynchronous course that exposes personnel that take part in maritime operations to the maritime Operational Level of War (OLW), Maritime Headquarters (MHQ) and Maritime Operations Center (MOC) concepts, organizational structure, processes and procedures. Their first class was completed March 31, 2022, where they graduated 15 students.
MHSC Director Professor Richard LaBranche explained the importance of the course.
“Some personnel assigned to Maritime Operational Centers do not receive the opportunity to come to the Naval War College and take one of our resident courses to learn about the roles and responsibilities, regarding people, processes, and organizations, within the MOC,” said LaBranche. “MHSC completes this requirement by offering active duty, reserve and civilian personnel who cannot travel to NWC an opportunity to receive a basic, yet tailored MOC-focused education without the travel commitments of the in-resident courses.”
The course consists of approximately 54 hours of course work spread over three weeks, or about 18 hours per week, with each week concluding with a two-hour live session connecting students and faculty. The course is hosted online at Mil University (www.milsuite.mil) six times per year.
The curriculum includes online videos, assigned and supplementary readings, and knowledge checks. MHSC educates personnel new to MOCs on how the centers operate and provides a basic introduction to the Navy planning process and doctrine. NWC CMOW faculty deliver video lectures for most of the course. Three live sessions are fundamental to understanding the material within the course with a significant part of those sessions dissecting case studies.
NWC Professor Keith Patton discussed the impact of the course.
“MHSC is the first NWC course hosted on the Mil University website, opening new possibilities for online education as students develop connections and establish relationships with each other and NWC faculty as part of their expanding professional network,” said Patton. “We believe MHSC offers the opportunity for the MHQs and subsequently, the MOCs to be better supported by personnel who report there with a basic understanding of the MOC and the Navy planning process.”
MHSC provides basic MOC education to personnel assigned to MHQ staff positions, MOC core positions, or externally supporting command staff. They focus learning objectives on understanding MOC concepts, organization, and processes and how course attendees in their assigned positions may interact with each other.
The course prioritizes active duty, then reserve and civilian personnel assigned to MOC billets. Other military or DoD civilian personnel may take courses on a case-by-case basis as billets allow.
For more information about the course, please visit the MHSC webpage here: Maritime Headquarters Staff Course.