Graduation from the Distance Education Program requires satisfactory completion of a series of four requirements.
Each requirement is composed of numerous lessons. The lesson is the basic unit of instruction and consists
of selected readings and other educational materials that support accomplishment of course objectives,
followed by application of the material. Course performance is evaluated through writing and exercise
requirements. Individual student requirements are subjective in nature, based on required study and designed
to ensure that course objectives are attained.
First Year Studies
Orientation to Strategic Leader Education (No Credit Hours)
This course is voluntary and designed to prepare the student for education at the strategic leadership
level.
Foundations Course (2 Credit Hours)
The Foundations Course introduces the foundational concepts (Civil-Military Relations) and frameworks (Critical and Systems Thinking, Thinking in Time, and International Relations Theory) USAWC students require to maximize student learning within the USAWC core curriculum. It also prepares students to perform as leaders and advisors in a dynamic strategic context. Finally, students will be introduced to multiple assessments including journals, forums, diagnostic tests, and a short paper.
Strategic Leadership (2 Credit Hours)
The Strategic Leadership course explores the foundations of leadership, and is balanced with the theories and application of strategic leadership. As a cornerstone of the US Army War College curriculum, this course introduces students to strategic leadership, builds a frame of reference for the strategic environment, and examines the complexities of organizational culture and leading change at the strategic level. The use of case studies encourages students to assess leadership theories across various disciplines and apply those theories to organizational culture and change. Students will continue to build upon these concepts throughout the Distance Education Program (DEP) and in their careers.
Theories of War and Strategy (3 Credit Hours)
This course examines the history and theory of war and military strategy, providing students with a strategic level understanding of the military element of power. In this course, students study the fundamental nature and evolving character of war by analyzing classical and modern theory and historical case studies to develop strategy for contemporary military challenges. This methodology provides students with insights about how war and conflict shape strategic thought and military practice, and provides a foundation for examining war and formulating current and future military strategy.
National Security Policy and Strategy (4 Credit Hours)
This foundational course to understand the United States government is focused on national security policy and strategy making and the structures and processes that put them into operation. This course reviews the environments - domestic, international, and strategic - in which policy and strategy formulation occurs, the actors and institutions that formulate policy and strategy, and the instruments of power the United States employs to pursue its national security goals and objectives. Students examine the interagency process for developing and implementing U.S. foreign and security policies, making the connections among the various external and domestic actors and influences at play. Finally, students will leverage the strategy formulation process and apply these insights to contemporary national security issues.
Regional Studies Program (3 Credit
Hours)
This course examines the key strategic factors that provide opportunities and challenges for US strategy and policymakers in a world of increasing great power competition. The focus is on viewing issues and interests from a primarily non-US viewpoint. Students enrolled in the course have the opportunity to select and conduct a deeper study of one of seven world regions - the Americas, Arctic, Europe, Greater Middle East, Indo-Pacific, Sub-Saharan Africa, or Russia/Eurasia. The course concludes with an exercise where students build a US strategy for their focus region.
Comprehensive Examination (0 Credit Hours)
During the Comprehensive Examination, students participate in a written test at the end of the First Year Studies online core curriculum as one measure to assess their retention and ability to synchronize course concepts to date. Students have a two-week study period augmented by Course Director overview sessions to review the first-year material. In the following seven days, students respond to select questions through which they will demonstrate their synthesis and integration of theories and concepts of the First-Year curriculum.
First Resident Course: Strategic Leadership in a Global Environment (3 Credit Hours)
For two weeks, students physically gather at Carlisle Barracks to expand upon the first-year curriculum, transition to second-year curriculum, and explore topics that prepare students for strategic level leadership. Students interact face-to-face with experts from a wide variety of fields to deepen an understanding of the nature of strategic leadership and broaden the appreciation for the substantive security issues confronting our nation's civilian and military leaders. In addition to the synchronous guest lectures and seminar discussion, students interact with a variety of embassy, agency, and think tank organizations. This experience explores the application of the diplomatic elements of national power and civil-military relationships in an interagency environment. Through several exercises, students practice negotiation tactics, develop strategies for regional specific challenges, and conduct operational design. After two weeks, students return to their home station after developing their skills to serve as strategic advisors to senior military and civilian leaders in an increasingly complex environment.
Second Year Studies
China Integrated Course (1 credit hours)
This is a foundational second year core course and Part 1 of a 2-part focus on China and the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) that culminates with a wargame during the Second Resident Course. Furthermore, the course lays the groundwork for subsequent studies in Defense Management and Military Strategy and Campaigning. The course offers an in-depth exploration of the People's Republic of China (PRC), examining how its history, culture, future vision, and policy preferences shape the strategic environment. It delves into the PRC's approach to internal, regional, and international issues, and how it leverages its national power to compete globally, particularly with the United States. Additionally, the course covers the modernization of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to support PRC national interests.
Defense Management (3 Credit Hours)
Defense Management provides the student, as a future leader in the strategic environment, with information and tools to increase his/her strategic leader technical competency and understanding of DOD structure and function and how DOD integrates into the overall national security structure. Its content furnishes the student with knowledge of the systems and processes that help senior national and military leaders translate theory into military strategy, plans, actions, and resources. The course examines the interactions of systems and processes including the Joint Strategic Planning System (JSPS) and DOD Decision Support Systems including the Joint Capabilities Integration & Development System (JCIDS); the DOD Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution (PPBE) process; and the Defense Acquisition System (DAS). (The course also explores doctrine for unified direction and organization, joint command and control, joint and multinational operations, and interagency, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organization coordination.) The material in Defense Management is a logical follow-on to that of the First Year courses and sets the stage for the remainder of the Second Year core courses.
Military Strategy and Campaigning I (3 Credit Hours)
Military Strategy and Campaigning I (MSC I) focuses on operational and strategic planning at the theater level in two blocks. The first block emphasizes the role of joint functions across warfighting domains to achieve success in Multi-domain Operations with allies and partners. In block two, students will prepare an operational approach based on their reframe of the Operational Environment and Problem Statement they created in First Resident Course, linking it directly to national strategic guidance from civilian leadership and exploring its execution through the lens of theater security operations, irregular warfare, homeland defense, strategic deterrence and risk. Throughout the course, students will gain a sophisticated understanding of how theater-level planning integrates joint functions, leverages warfighting domains, and accounts for the complexities of Multi-domain Operations, ultimately supporting national security objectives and mitigating strategic risk.
Military Strategy and Campaigning II (2 Credit Hours)
MSC II builds upon war fighting concepts from previous courses to address how joint and combatant commands operationalize strategic guidance to plan a campaign in an operational environment. The course applies the concept of design and addresses the fundamentals of operational art and joint doctrine for campaign planning. Students will examine the employment of military force to attain theater-level strategic and operational objectives through the design, organization and integration of theater campaigns. Students will gain an understanding of the fundamentals of campaign planning and learn how to prepare the key planning products a joint force commander would use to create a campaign plan. This course uses joint and Service doctrinal material and two online labs to reinforce key concepts and learning objectives.
Second Resident Course: Strategic Leadership in Current and Future Warfare (3 Credit Hours)
Strategic Leadership in Current and Future Warfare examines strategic leadership and its application to the use of military forces in current and future warfare. This course is designed to be the capstone course for the Distance Education Program and builds upon and compliments the previous two years of study. Students will apply analytical frameworks to analyze strategies that address national security challenges from across the competition continuum. Students will create and evaluate options for employing landpower and joint capabilities in the culminating wargame of the China Integrate Course. This event integrates planning efforts and defense management decisions that students developed in previous exercises. Expert guest speakers, including current and former military leaders, government leaders, and nationally-renowned academics will present students in a lecture series on current and future national security topics. Invited civilian leaders and thinkers from businesses, community organizations, and government from across the country will join our students during the National Security Seminar event, enriching student seminar discussions with broad and dynamic perspectives. Students will analyze and gain a deeper understanding of current American military strategy, how senior leaders leverage the elements of national power, and the relationships between the Department of Defense and other stake holders in national security strategy. Students will participate in a staff ride and be provided additional academic discussions to fully exploit the resources provided by the United States Army War College.
Elective Program
Electives provide students with instruction in a specialized subject which will build on the knowledge gained during the two-year program. Students are required to take two electives or a combination of one elective and one enhanced program or research project. The list of elective course offerings varies from year to year. Examples of elective courses and enhanced programs or research projects that are traditionally offered follow.
Electives:
Economics and National Security
This course introduces students to political economy, focusing on economic concepts and processes that impact national security. It examines the political effects of economic phenomena on U.S. national security policy. Key issues include the global economy's organization, the international monetary system, trade, economic interdependence, and economic development in developing countries.
Airpower and Modern Warfare
Airpower and Modern Warfare introduces Distance Education students to the evolution of airpower in warfare and its role in contemporary national security. The course covers the origins of airpower, its historical employment, and its influence on current doctrine and strategy. Students will analyze airpower's capabilities and limitations, and apply strategic leadership skills to evaluate its future direction in U.S. national security policy. The course uses readings and a Blackboard forum to support learning objectives.
Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA)
A secure U.S. homeland is the Nation's top priority, supported by the Department of Defense (DOD) through Homeland Defense (HD) and Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA). DCSA covers DOD support for domestic emergencies and law enforcement, emphasizing DSCA roles, processes, and interagency coordination with organizations like FEMA. The course reviews Joint and Army doctrine for DSCA operations and the legal and policy mechanisms that guide these efforts.
Energy and National Security
This course, blended with AWC resident program students, uses the World Economic Forum's "energy security triangle" (supply, economics, environment) as a framework to explore energy's role in the instruments of national power. Students analyze how policy choices regarding carbon-based fuels and sustainable energy sources affect national economies, international relations, military capabilities and readiness, climate, infrastructure, and trade. They will consider energy security from the perspective of the United States, Europe and Russia, Asia and China, and Africa and Latin America. Students will engage in one online discussion forum with their resident program counterparts and write a short position paper on a topic related to energy security.
Negotiations
This course enhances personal and professional negotiation skills using principled negotiation techniques. Students will practice and analyze negotiations from routine to complex levels, using materials from Harvard Law School's Program on Negotiations and other sources. The course includes Blackboard forums, negotiation exercises, and an essay.
Cyber Operations
This elective examines the strategic direction and development of Cyberspace Domain Operations and the impact of information age technology on U.S. cyber threat deterrence. Students explore Cyberspace policy and doctrine, focusing on command and control, tactics, and transformation. The course aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of Cyberspace Warfare at various levels and its integration into U.S. strategy. Students will complete a 1500-word essay on a significant aspect of Cyber Warfare.
Campaigning in the Gray Zone
This course examines the gray zone, a space between traditional war and peace, and its growing prominence. Students will evaluate strategies for preparing and countering competition and conflict in this area. The course provides an intellectual basis for analyzing strategic implications and includes readings, multimedia reviews, seminar dialogue, and case studies.
Great Power Competition: Lessons from U.S. Involvement in Vietnam
This course allows students to synthesize concepts from the U.S. Army War College curriculum by analyzing U.S. involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1975. Despite efforts to avoid war, the Vietnam conflict escalated in 1965 and became the longest and most controversial U.S. conflict of the 20th century. The course examines the war's impact on U.S. military strategy and its ongoing influence on debates about military power. Students will draw insights applicable to current and future military strategy.
Gods and Nations - Understanding the Religious Dimension
This course provides an overview of how the five major world religions—Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism—approach war, aiding strategic understanding of contemporary conflicts. Students examine foundational texts and historical developments in each religion, and analyze case studies like the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and Salafi Jihadism. The course explores how religious heritages influence attitudes and actions in conflicts, and evaluates scholarly findings on religion's impact on intra- and inter-state conflicts.
Responsible Command
This course provides a forum for dialogue on command and leadership, preparing students for roles at the 0-6 level and beyond. It challenges students to redefine the role of a commander at operational and strategic levels. The course includes readings, discussions, online journaling, and an oral presentation of their Command or Leader Philosophy. Written assignments and presentations help students integrate and evaluate course materials in the context of current strategic challenges.
Enhanced Programs or Research Projects:
National Security Simulation Exercise of Competition, Crisis, and Conflict (NSEC3)
NSEC3 is a scenario-based, experiential learning exercise in which students roleplay as leaders at the strategic and enterprise level to develop a strategic estimate and an options brief. It includes a fourteen-session distributive phase followed by a collective phase where students will interact with other Senior Service Colleges, the Swedish Defense University, and other international partners during a seven-day culminating exercise at Carlisle. NSEC3 builds on the knowledge and skills introduced in the core curriculum. Students will be assessed on a two to three page information paper, an oral presentation/media interview based on your student role, and seminar contribution to two group assignments.
Commandant's Reading Program (DCRP)
The Commandant's Reading Program broadens students' understanding of leadership through diverse perspectives, utilizing both classic and contemporary literature. Students will develop strategic thinking skills and participate in high-quality discussions on online forums, guided by an award-winning author. The course involves examining, analyzing, and evaluating assigned books from a strategic leadership viewpoint.
Leadership Ethics Program (LEP)
This course provides an ethical "sandbox" to enhance decision-making skills through the analysis of complex issues using justified reasoning and personal reflection.
Strategic Research Requirement (SRR)
The SRR is a valuable learning experience in the education and development of strategic leaders. Conducting research builds cognitive and communication skills expected of strategic leaders, such as the ability to identify, structure, and scope a complex question; collect, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate relevant information; and draw conclusions and make recommendations for a decision-maker based on that information.
Defense Strategy Course
The U.S. Army War College has offered the Defense Strategy Course (DSC) a
nonresident course, to U.S. Army Active and Reserve Component officers since 1984. This course is
a four-month online Distance Education program boarded by Army Human Resources Command offered twice each year. Regular Army (RA), Army Reserve (USAR), Army National Guard (ANG) and Army Civilian Career Management Activity (ACMMA) boards select ten Regular Army officers, 10 Army National Guard officers, 10 Army Reserve officers, and 10 CP60/Army Civilians for each course.
(Please contact the relevant component POC, below, to request consideration for
enrollment). For ATRRS, the school code is 217 and the course # is DSC. Officers
enrolling in the Defense Strategy Course must:
- Be a Captain/O-3 or higher, either serving in a 3-Star or higher staff position or designated by
their component’s FA59 proponent, OR
- Be a Major/O-4 or Lieutenant Colonel/O-5 having completed Intermediate Level Education (ILE) Common
Core / equivalent schooling, AND
- Not be enrolled in, or have completed, a Senior Service College Program (MEL-1)
Historical Background of the DSC:
In 1984, Former Secretary of Army Marsh tasked the Army Deputy Chief of
Staff for Operations (DCSOPS), LTG William R. Richardson, to develop a non-resident course of
instruction at the U.S. Army War College develop a correspondence course of instruction for Active Army
and Reserve Component officers on Geo-Politics. The Defense Strategy Course was duly established and the
Army designed DSC as a continuing education program for MEL-4 qualified Field Grade Officers. It has
continued to provide this service for more than 34 years and has over 4,500 graduates.
Purpose of the Defense Strategy Course:
To improve student understanding about the role of the Department of Defense in the development of National Security Policy and Strategy (NSPS) within the contemporary international environment. The DSC includes four blocks of instruction totaling 16 lessons. Each lesson takes approximately 10-15 hours to complete (on a weekly basis). Of note, there is also an orientation block, with prerequisite assignments which are due prior to course start.
-
Block 1, Foundations of Strategy, provides an understanding of how and why the strategic level of defense enterprise is different, and how to communicate to its leaders.
- Block 2, Strategic Theory, examines classical thinking about strategic theory, military schools of strategic thought, and who strategic thinkers apply theory to practice.
- Block 3, Strategy in Practice, reviews the Strategy Formulation Framework, international relations, civilian control of the military, the DoD strategy development process, and the processes involved in execution of Title 10 responsibilities.
- Block 4, Contemporary Strategic Challenges, addresses the current strategic environment and the role of the combatant command and component commands.
Evaluation Criteria:
Students are evaluated based on weekly online discussion posts, check-on-learning quizzes, and four strategic document assignments.
Course Completion Recognition:
No formal Military Education Level is awarded for completion of the Defense
Strategy Course, nor does it provide graduate or undergraduate college credits. No formal academic
evaluation report is written upon completion of the course. However, all students who complete the
course will receive a Certification in Strategy and Policy Development signed by the Commandant of the
U.S. Army War College. Army officers may also include this course on their Officer Record Briefs (ORBs)
as a school completed, using the MILPO code designation WUI.
Upcoming Course Dates:
- DSC 25-02 dates (14 Jul - 02 Nov 2025)
- DSC 26-01 dates (12 Jan - 02 May 2026)
- DSC 26-02 dates (13 Jul - 01 Nov 2026)
Interested Army officers may request consideration for enrollment as follows:
Regular Army: Your branch manager should contact
the Active Duty DSC quota manager.
Human Resources Command
ATTN: KNOX-HRC-OPL-L
1600 Spearhead Division Avenue
Fort Knox, KY 40122
DSN: 983-6417
COMM: (502) 613-6417
POC:
Mr. Kurt Wahl
Email Address:
kurt.a.wahl.civ@army.mil
Army National Guard: Through Command Channels
to:
Army Reserve: Through Command Channels to:
Gabe Cruz, LTC, FA59
Army Reserve FA59 Proponency Education Officer
6075 Goethals Rd. Suite 303
Fort Belvoir, VA 22060
Office: 703-806-7795
POC:
LTC Gabe Cruz
Email Address:
gabriel.j.cruz.mil@army.milArmy Civilian Career Management Activity: Through Command Channels to:
POCs for Defense Strategy Course (for matters other than enrollment):
Defense Strategy Foundation Course
The Defense Strategy Foundation Course (DSFC) is a 12-week online program of
study for GS 14 and 15 level civilians from the Department of Defense's Defense Senior Leader
Development Program (DSLDP). This course is only for selectees to the DSLDP Program. DSFC is a
prerequisite for all DSLDP students attending Senior Service College. The DSFC focuses on the National
Security Strategy policymaking process and the relationship of the national instruments of power to
defense strategy.
The Purpose of the Defense Strategy Foundation Course:
To improve student understanding about the role of the Department of
Defense in the development of National Security Strategy within a volatile, uncertain, complex and
ambiguous international environment. The DSFC is divided into four sections of 10 lessons, each
requiring approximately 7 to 10 hours to complete.
- Section 1, Course Introduction, is designed to prepare students for taking
the course using an online format and to introduce them to the concept of critical thinking.
- Section 2, War and Military Strategy, examines classical thinking about
strategic theory, the military schools of strategic thought, the international system, strategy
formulation framework and states and strategy.
- Section 3, The Department of Defense, reviews traditional American
perspectives on Defense and the role of the DoD, civil control of defense, the interagency framework,
and homeland security.
- Section 4, Policy Development and Security Environment, examines uses of
history in policy making, globalization/economic development, the current strategic environment (both
opportunities and threats), cultural relations and dimensions, multinational operations, centers of
gravity analysis and Strategy at the Combatant Command Level.
Evaluation Criteria:
Successful completion of the course includes participation in online forums
(threaded discussions) and a written essay.
Course Completion Recognition:
No formal Military Education Level is awarded for completion of the Defense
Strategy Foundation Course, nor does it provide college course credits. All students who complete the
course will receive an Army War College Certificate signed by the Commandant of the U.S. Army War
College.
