About
The second youngest of the U.S. military war colleges, MCWAR was founded on 1 August 1990 as the Marine Corps “Art of War Studies” program. MCWAR became a separate college one year later and achieved JPME Phase I accreditation in December 1992. In 2001, MCWAR was accredited by the Southern association of Colleges and Schools and authorized to award Master of Strategic Studies degrees. In September 2006, MCWAR was the first Senior Service School to be JPME Phase II certified and in January 2009 the College was fully accredited via the Process for Accreditation of Joint Education (PAJE). In July 2010, the College accepted its first international military students.
In fulfillment of its role in the JPME and Marine Corps PME policy, MCWAR is dedicated to educating its students for the challenges of a complex and dynamic security environment and preparing them to assume senior leadership positions within their service or agency. The College’s curriculum is crafted to maximize the advantages of small- group seminars, employing the Socratic-method and active adult learning techniques to generate debate, challenge student assumptions, and otherwise foster academic excellence. The diversity of the students' backgrounds enables the seminar group, under faculty direction, to maximize collaborative learning as members share their knowledge and experience. Trips, practical application exercises, wargames and writing and speaking opportunities allow the students to hone the skills they will need as strategic leaders by challenging them to think critically about current national security policy and strategy issues, develop viable alternatives, and articulate those alternatives in a clear and meaningful way. Finally, the curriculum exposes students to the foremost experts from national agencies, national military commands and the civilian academic world.
Program Learning Outcomes
MCWAR graduates students who will be:
1. Prepared to perform as strategic advisors to senior military and civilian leaders.
1.a. Evaluate national security strategies, policies, decision making, and joint warfighting.
1.b. Demonstrate effective reading, thinking, and oral and written presentation of complex issues in uncertain environments at the strategic level.
2. Able to perform as critical and creative thinkers.
2.a. Evaluate information and arguments by methods including assessing risk and potential consequences, challenging assumptions, and utilizing different analytical lenses.
2.b. Apply these methods in the creation and evaluation of national security strategies, national military strategies, and campaign plans.
3. Prepared to perform as military strategists.
3.a. Apply the framework of ends, ways, means, and risk.
3.b. Evaluate the integration of all instruments of national power.
3.c. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of employing force or the threat of force in the pursuit of political objectives.
4. Prepared to perform as senior joint warfighters across all domains.
4.a. Evaluate the changing character and enduring nature of war and apply historical lessons to current and future competition and conflicts.
4.b. Apply the art and science of planning and conducting campaigns and major operations in an all-domain, joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational environment.
4.c. Demonstrate an understanding of essential leadership and decision-making attributes, and the ethical grounding necessary to succeed in senior positions within the joint force, service, or agency.
Admissions Policy
Admission to MCWAR is based on allocations granted by the Commandant of the Marine Corps. The admissions policy supports the mission of the College and reflects the needs of the United States Marine Corps and the educational criteria of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The student body consists of three distinct student populations: U.S. military officers, international military officers, and Federal Government civilian employees. Invitation, nomination, and admission to the College vary by student type: U.S. military officers are admitted through their services’ selection/assignment processes; International officers are admitted by invitational nomination through Headquarters, Marine Corps; Federal Government civilian employees are admitted through an invitational nomination and approval process.
Admission Requirements
Eligibility prerequisites for MCWAR are established by the military services and are identified in the applicable service regulations and requirements for attendance at a senior-level PME institution. Specific admissions prerequisites for MCWAR are as follows:
• Grade: O-5/O-6 (LtCol/Col, CDR/CAPT) for military officers; GS/GM-14/15 for Federal Government civilian employees.
• Security Clearance: Possess a Top Secret clearance that will not expire during the academic year.
• Passport: Possess an official business or diplomatic passport that will not expire during the academic year.
• Professional experience that will allow the student to interact in interagency discussions.
• Suitability for future service and increased responsibility. MCWAR expects that sponsoring agencies will select students who have demonstrated leadership, skill, and resourcefulness in difficult assignments, and have demonstrated sound performance in an academic environment.
• Marine Corps officers must meet PME requirements as identified in Marine Corps Order P1553.4B.
• A regionally or nationally accredited undergraduate degree (United States bachelor’s degree or its equivalent).
• Graduate-level capabilities to read, comprehend, speak, and write in English. Ability to rapidly comprehend and analyze large amounts of reading and contribute effectively during graduate-level, competitive seminars led by a variety of professors and military faculty. All international students are required to have achieved a TOEFL score of 83 or higher prior to their selection to be eligible for the degree program.
Physical and Skill Requirements
MCWAR’s curriculum is dynamic and interactive. Students are required to travel and actively participate in various educational forums. Specific physical and skill requirements are as follows:
• Small-group interaction in war games and practical application exercises, which require individual and group military, planning, and briefing skills.
• Meet the physical fitness and height and weight requirements for their respective military service or Federal Government agency.
• Active participation in battlefield staff rides, which includes walking, hiking, and conducting on-site, oral briefs.
Note: Nominees with special medical needs are advised that medical care may not be available while traveling or conducting battlefield staff rides at remote and overseas locations.