Welcome to the Joint Advanced Warfighting School

• Welcome
• Mission
• Organization
• Housing and Billeting
• Uniforms Policy

Welcome

On behalf of the JFSC Commandant, faculty and staff, welcome to the Joint Advanced Warfighting School (JAWS) Homepage. JAWS is an eleven month, single-phase JPME (I and II), intermediate or senior-level school focused on educating expert joint campaign planners.

The JAWS curriculum is developed from several sources and will focus on the knowledge required to perform the duties and responsibilities of a senior campaign planner and strategist on any joint, combined, or coalition staff. First, we provide course content that meets or exceeds the requirements of the Officer Professional Military Education Policy (OPMEP) and Special Areas of Emphasis (SAE) from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Second, we stay in close contact with the combatant commands, our interagency and international partners to understand their requirements for their officers and civilians operating in the joint, combined, and coalition staff arena. Third, our faculty contributes their own experiences as senior joint, combined, and coalition officers. Finally, we solicit inputs from class members in a collaborative seminar environment. In sum, our curriculum is built on the foundation of joint doctrine and evolving operational issues. The combined effect of these efforts keeps our program current, relevant and useful to you. It is important to note, this is an advanced program, and the work is as rigorous as any graduate academic program. Upon graduation you should be eligible to fill key strategy or campaign planning billets on combatant commander, interagency, or coalition staffs as well as the Joint Staff or the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

An important and significant portion of the academic experience is the JAWS student thesis, a 60-90 page work on an operational to strategic level topic focused on current joint, combined and interagency issues. There is researching and writing primarily during the first half of the year and early thinking and development of a worthy topic is encouraged. Previous JAWS student theses are available for review in the JFSC Library and through the Defense Technical Information Center.

If we can assist you in any way, please call the JFSC Registrar & Personnel Services office at DSN 646-6124/34; COMM (757) 443-6124/34 or via e-mail at registrar@jfsc.ndu.edu.

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Mission

JAWS produces graduates who can create campaign-quality concepts, plan for the employment of all elements of national power, accelerate transformation, succeed as joint force operational / strategic planners and be creative, conceptual, adaptive and innovative.

JAWS is envisioned to populate the Joint Staff and combatant commands with officers expert in the joint planning processes and capable of critical analysis in the application of all aspects of national power across the full range of military operations. Students must be capable of synergistically combining existing and emerging capabilities in time, space and purpose to accomplish operational or strategic objectives.

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Organization

JAWS educates selected O-4s through O-6s, rank equivalent interagency civilians and selected international officers in the art and science of joint, interagency and multinational planning and warfighting at the strategic-operational level of war as directed by the CJCS Officer Professional Military Education Policy. JAWS awards Service Intermediate (Staff College) or Senior Level College (War College) credit (based on student rank and experience) as well as single phase Joint Professional Military Education (JPME I & II). JAWS graduates earn a fully accredited Masters of Science degree in Joint Campaign Planning and Strategy. The rigorous JAWS program recently underwent an initial CJCS Process of Accreditation for Joint Education assessment and received formal certification.

Currently, three JAWS seminars are organized with up to fourteen students in each seminar. Each seminar notionally consists of a balanced mix of Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard, interagency civilians and international military students. Students are assigned to seminars with an intent to provide an optimum mix of Service, grade, experience, specialty and expected follow-on assignment potential. Each seminar is conducted in collaborative learning and Collaborative Information Environment with current information technology tools available at student desktops in the classrooms. Each student is required to complete an individual graduate level thesis of at least 60 pages and an individual campaign plan within the course of their studies. Students also participate in several staff rides and research visits throughout the busy academic year.

The faculty of the Joint Advanced Warfighting School (JAWS) consists of senior officers with joint experience from all Services and civilian professors. In addition to this highly qualified staff, students have multiple occasions to meet and discuss issues with active and retired flag/general officers and Ambassadors. Retired flag/general officers and Ambassadors, as Senior Fellows, are an integral part of the faculty and are a key element of the learning experience within the collaborative seminar. Additionally, the school employs several distinguished academics and a variety of subject matter experts throughout the course in the role of guest speaker and as a participant in seminar forums, formally and informally.

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JAWS STUDENT BILLETING/HOUSING INFORMATION:

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