NATIONAL DEFENSE UNIVERSITY JOINT FORCES STAFF COLLEGE NORFOLK, VA 23511-1702

JFSC-JCWS
          26 Mar 2020

MEMORANDUM FOR Joint and Combined Warfighting School (JCWS)

  SUBJECT:  Welcome JCWS Students to Class 20-02

1.  On behalf of the President of the National Defense University (NDU), and the Commandant and faculty of the Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC), welcome to Phase II of your Joint Professional Military Education (JPME). This is an exciting opportunity for you to develop academic skills among a dynamic group of peers from each service, civilian agencies, and partner nations. In preparation, many of you may have consulted colleagues regarding what to expect. Allow me to express our expectations directly, as things may have evolved since your co-workers attended the course. Furthermore, the realities of the COVID-19 virus outbreak and the resultant national emergency have required us to transition our prestigious resident program into a 100% on-line modality. You will have experiences and opportunities that your co-workers will not have had.

2.  Be prepared to invest in your learning. Our curriculum, even in this modified delivery method, is demanding and expectations for performance are high. In this era of declining resources and increasing complexity, the nation needs senior officers and national security professionals capable of engaging with and effectively addressing complex problems. We stay in close contact with combatant commands, interagency representatives, and international partners to understand their requirements for national security professionals in the joint, interagency, intergovernmental, multinational, combined, or coalition environment. We have structured and continue to adapt the curriculum to ensure its relevance to these important stakeholders.

3.  You will need to exercise sound time management skills to complete JCWS requirements successfully. The reading load during the first segment of the class builds on JPME Phase I. Specifically, your reading requirements include key joint publications such as JP 3-0 and 5-0 (you can find the doctrinal readings online if you have time to read them in advance:  http://www.jcs.mil/Doctrine/Joint-Doctine-Pubs/). Besides evaluations of your understanding of course reading requirements, we will observe your performance during practical on-line exercises in leadership roles as well as test your ability to write on the basis of a number of different assignments. This rigorous, yet enjoyable environment will provide you time to polish your critical thinking skills, and develop a deeper appreciation for “jointness,” joint planning, the nature of the contemporary security environment, and the DOD’s response to that environment in the form of globally integrated operations. Like all such endeavors, you will reap rewards from this educational investment commensurate with your level of effort. Finally, you will have this opportunity to forge lasting relationships that set you up for success in the profession of arms and the future national security professional arena.

SUBJECT:  Welcome JCWS Students to Class 20-02

4.  For general information about this program and the Joint Forces Staff College, please reference the following website:

http://jfsc.ndu.edu/Academics/Joint-and-Combined-Warfighting-School-JCWS/

5.  All of you should be in communication with your Seminar Team Leader, but it you have questions concerning registration, contact the JFSC Registrar’s Office at (757) 443-6124 or via email at registrar2@ndu.edu. 

								//Signed//

								Shane ‘Splash’ Moore, CAPT, USN
								Director
								Joint and Combined Warfighting School 

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