National War College

The National War College is one of six schools that sit near the top of the American military's program of professional military education. In addition to the National War College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps all run their own separate war colleges. The National War College follows a similar curriculum as these service colleges, but it is more formally understood as a school that teaches joint operations, national policy, and military strategy. Based at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., the National War College draws its students from senior members of all branches of the armed services (lieutenant colonels; commanders; colonels/captains) as well as civilians from relevant agencies such as the departments of State and Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the United States Information Agency. Since 1984, foreign officers from allied nations have also attended the college.

The idea for such a school came during World War II as the problems of directing joint operations became manifest to senior American military leaders. In 1943, Army Air Force Gen. Henry “Hap” Arnold oversaw the development of the Army–Navy Staff College. Known as ANSCOL, the school offered a 21-week course to senior leaders of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. Students attended classes and exercises at the facilities of each service, underscoring the joint nature of the modern American military. The college's students studied logistics, command, and the direction of operations with other services and nations. ANSCOL's philosophy stemmed from two guiding principles: the need to teach American officers of different services how to work together, and the need to see military operations in as wide a political, economic, and international context as possible.

In June 1945 ANSCOL leaders recommended continuing the joint education approach. The Navy's Pye Board had already advanced the same idea the previous year, and the Army's Gerow panel agreed in 1946. With the approval of all the key players in place, the departments of War, Navy, and State announced the formation of the National War College that year. The initial plan for the college envisioned it serving as a higher college that would build upon and in some ways supercede existing war colleges in place for the Army and Navy. The Army even closed its war college in anticipation of the National War College taking over many of its functions.

The concept of joint service cooperation, in vogue among many political and military officials, dominated the National War College's identity. The Army volunteered space for the new facility, and the Navy provided the first superintendent. The superintendent changed every three years, rotating between the three (and after the creation of the Air Force in 1947, four) services. The State Department also provided a senior administrator, starting with George Kennan. The faculty came from captains and colonels with advanced degrees, as well as some civilian professors. Most of the last were on one-year visiting appointments from their positions in civilian colleges, although the War College later added a permanent civilian component to its faculty.

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