Please Note: Students applying to the Graduate Degree Program must have completed one or more Fleet Seminar Program courses with no course grade lower than a B-.
Elective Courses
Both the NWC in-residence curriculum and NWC’s Online Program offer a very limited number of elective courses—under limited circumstances some students may be allowed to take electives offered in residence at NWC.
GDP students will most likely need to take elective courses from non-NWC institutions regionally accredited to award graduate degrees.
Please Note: It is the responsibility of each student taking courses at other institutions to comply with that institution’s procedures and policies concerning admissions, registration, and fee payment.
Elective Requirements
All elective work must be at the graduate level and elective courses must be relevant to (or represent advanced study in) one or more of the three core course disciplines. Courses must be administered through and credits awarded by institutions that are regionally accredited to award graduate degrees.
Students admitted to GDP must complete all electives under a single Area of Study.
Requesting Approval for an Elective
Electives will only be approved if they have been determined to meet NWC’s quality and academic standards and are in congruence with the overall focus of the NWC program.
Before enrolling in or registering in any elective course (even those offered by NWC), students should receive approval from the GDP manager to use that course. Students must use the Request for Approval of Elective Course form.
Transferring Elective Credit from Non-NWC Institutions
To transfer credits awarded for completion of approved non-NWC elective courses, students should have the institution from which the course was taken send an official transcript directly to the GDP manager. Either electronic or hard copy official transcripts are acceptable.
- Students taking more than one course from an institution can wait until all courses are complete before ordering their transcripts.
- A student will not be awarded more credits than what is documented on the transcript.
- Transcripts need to be sent directly from the issuing institution (or its agent) to the GDP office. Transcripts that are not done so will not be accepted.
Transcripts can be sent to GDP@usnwc.edu or:
College of Distance Education (Code 1G)
Graduate Degree Program Manager
686 Cushing Road
Newport, RI 02841-1207
Elective courses taken at non-NWC institutions must be completed early enough that official transcripts can be ordered and received by the GDP office prior to 15 April of the graduating year. This ensures there is sufficient time to administratively prepare students to graduate. While the GDP office will continue to accept and process transcripts arriving after that date, such arrival might not provide sufficient time to allow inclusion into that year's graduating class.
Please Note: Coursework applied for credit in any other degree program cannot be used to meet a requirement for this degree. Additionally, courses that are part of a JPME-granting curriculum cannot be used to satisfy, in whole or in part, the elective requirement.
Area of Study
Students must complete all nine semester hours for electives under a single Area of Study (AOS) to fulfill the elective requirement.
Available AOSs and Associated Additional Qualification Designation (AQD) Codes:
- Greater Middle East (AOS 1, AQD 244)
- Asia-Pacific (AOS 2, AQD 241)
- Western Hemisphere (Latin-America) (AOS 3, AQD 242)
- Europe-Russia (formerly Eurasia) (AOS 4, AQD 246)
- Africa (AOS 5, AQD 243)
- Enterprise Strategic Planning (AOS 8, AQD 245)
- Operational Law (AOS 9, AQD 229)
- Strategy, Operations and Military History (AOS 10)
- Information Operations (AOS 11, AQD 249)
- Irregular Warfare (AOS 12, AQD 248)
- Leadership and Ethics (AOS 13)
- Homeland Security/Homeland Defense (AOS 21, AQD 276)
Available Electives Offered by the Online Program
The following courses are offered by NWC’s Online Program and last 12 weeks. Students will earn three semester credit hours if they complete a course with a B- or better.
EL674W Intermediate Force Capabilities: Supporting the Joint Force Across the Competition Continuum
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Please Note: This course is only appropriate for use under the Irregular Warfare Area of Study or the Strategy Operations & Military History Area of Study.
Intermediate Force Capabilities: Supporting the Joint Force Across the Competition Continuum
Convening Dates: There are two separate sessions. All applicants will be offered the first session by priority order, and they may defer to the second session, if desired.
Spring Session: 17 Apr 2024 - 16 Jul 2024
Summer Session: 17 Jul 2024 - 09 Oct 2024
Waitlist Prioritization: 1) Graduate Degree Program approved student with no previous NWC online elective, 2) Graduate Degree Program approved student with one previous NWC online elective, 3) Graduate Degree Program approved student with two previous NWC online electives, 4) Fleet Seminar Program student who has not been selected for the Graduate Degree Program, 5) any eligible student, and 6) Graduate Degree Program graduate.
Intermediate Force Capabilities (IFC), including Non-lethal Weapons (NLW), complement Joint Force lethality and agility by enabling force applications between presence and lethal force to control the scope and scale of effects on targets. IFC/NLW neutralize threats through precise and intended reversible effects that reduce collateral damage/civilian casualties - and they are always employed with lethal weapons to minimize risk to the force. IFC/NLW are not intended to enable “humanitarian” warfare – but to achieve successful outcomes for scenarios in which gross kinetic destruction will not.
This course will provide an understanding of the tactical relevance and utility of these unique capabilities, the benefits they offer towards achieving operational/strategic goals, and planning considerations for their employment. Most notably, this course will explore how IFC/NLW supports the Joint Force in contemporary operations that include irregular and hybrid warfare and the Gray Zone. Other areas to be analyzed include potential “game breaking” systems enabled through directed energy. Finally, this elective introduces future senior leaders to these unique/relevant weapons through a parallel study of key DOD domains (acquisition process, the law of war, defense policy, international treaties/conventions, joint warfighting, etc.) in which today’s military professionals must be familiar.
Register for elective Directed Research Project
GDP students may elect to conduct a Directed Research Project (DRP) in order to satisfy part (two or three semester credit hours) of their elective requirement. DRPs are independent studies that must be conducted under the sponsorship of a current Naval War College faculty member and support the student's Area of Study. More information can be found via the links below. For specific questions, contact the manager of the Graduate Degree Program at GDP@usnwc.edu.
DRP Policy DRP Proposal Form DRP Grade Sheet