Colleges and Schools:
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The College of International Security Affairs is NDU’s focal point for interagency and international security education, promoting a common understanding among agencies, nations, and military services. The College presents qualified students with a Master of Arts (M.A.) Degree in Strategic Security Studies. Five areas of concentration are currently available within the M.A.: Counterterrorism (CT), International Security Studies (ISS) Conflict Management of Stability Operations (CMSO), Homeland Defense (HD), and Homeland Security Strategy and Leadership (HSSL).The College is home to NDU’s International Counterterrorism Fellowship Program. The ICTF program is the flagship of DOD's Regional Defense Combating Terrorism Fellowship (RDCTF) program. Each year, our College recieves more than 30 counterterrorism specialists from our coalition partner countries.
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The Industrial College of the Armed Forces mission is to prepare selected military and civilians for strategic leadership and success in developing our national security strategy and in evaluating, marshalling, and managing resources in the execution of that strategy. Reflecting this joint and interagency perspective, 58 percent of the student body is composed of military representatives from the land, sea and air Services, 32 percent from the Departments of Defense and State and 10 other federal agencies, 8 percent international military officers, and 2 percent from the private sector. ICAF awards its graduates a Master of Science degree in National Resource Strategy.
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The Information Resources Management (IRM) College prepares leaders to direct the information component of national power by leveraging information and information technology for strategic advantage. Primary areas of expertise include leadership; process management; information technology, policy, and security; transformation; and management of acquisition processes and reform. As a trusted voice in the information resource management community, the IRM College is recognized for its excellent graduate-level programs, faculty, and services that provide a strategic advantage for today's military and civilian leaders in the Department of Defense and across government. The students are middle and senior level managers with IRM responsibilities who plan information operations within their organizations, perform systems integration functions, and/or protect elements of the defense information infrastructure.
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The mission of the Joint Forces Staff College is to educate national security leaders in joint, multinational, and interagency operational-level planning and warfighting, to instill a primary commitment to joint, multinational, and interagency teamwork, attitudes, and perspectives. Military operations increasingly require the Armed Services to work jointly and JFSC provides students the tools to operate in a joint environment. JFSC is composed of four schools, each with different student populations and purposes.
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The mission of the National War College is to prepare future leaders of the Armed Forces, State Department, and other civilian agencies for high-level policy, command, and staff responsibilities. To do this, NWC conducts a senior-level course of study in national security policy and strategy for selected U.S. and foreign military officers and federal officials. The curriculum emphasizes the joint and interagency perspective. Reflecting this emphasis, 75 percent of the student body is composed of equal representation from the land, air, and sea (including Marine and Coast Guard) Services. The remaining 25 percent are drawn from the Department of State and other federal departments and agencies. In addition, international fellows from a number of countries join the student body.
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NDU Research Centers:
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The Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction has a broad mandate for education and research, and pursues ambitious initiatives in both areas. Research interests range from assessments of U.S. nonproliferation and counterproliferation policies and programs, to doctrine and training, to a fuller understanding of NBC operational effects, to alliance preparedness and cooperation. Through these efforts, the Center has contributed to the basic understanding of the security implications of WMD proliferation, as well as to the challenge of fashioning an effective response. Through its education and outreach programs, the Center is dedicated to the goal of embedding in the next generation of military leaders and defense civilians an awareness of the proliferation threat as it relates to defense policy, programs, and military operations. The Center has taken both a top-down and a bottom-up approach, enhancing the awareness of policy makers and operators alike to the challenges and requirements for operating in an NBC environment.
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The Center for Technology and National Security Policy (CTNSP) examines the implications of technological innovation for U.S. national security policy and military planning. CTNSP combines scientific and technical assessments with analyses of current strategic and defense policy issues, taking on topics to bridge the gap. The Center has produced studies on proliferation and homeland security, military transformation, international science and technology, information technology, life sciences, and social science modeling. Recent successes include the development of the NATO Response Force, planning for Stabilization and Reconstruction, and a Citizen Preparedness Poster on WMD. The Center also provides technical and policy expertise to the faculty and students at the National Defense University.
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The Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) is a policy research and strategic gaming organization within the National Defense University serving the U.S. Department of Defense, its components, and interagency partners. The Institute provides timely, objective analysis and gaming events to senior decision makers and supports NDU educational programs in the fields of international security and defense policy. Through an active outreach program, including conferences, international exchanges, and publications, the Institute seeks to promote wider understanding of emerging international security challenges and defense policy options.
 INSS Components:
Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs: The mission of the Center is to serve as a national focal point and resource center for multidisciplinary research and analytic exchanges on the national goals and strategic posture of the People's Republic of China and the ability of that nation to develop, field, and deploy an effective military instrument in support of its national strategic objectives.
 Center for Applied Strategic Learning: The Center designs, develops and conducts strategic-level games and exercises to provide experiential learning in support of the teaching objectives of the National Defense University. Working closely with the Institute for National Strategic Studies on issues of national security policy and strategy development and analysis, the Center provides state-of-the-art political-military exercises for the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), the Joint Staff and the Combatant Commands of the Department of Defense. The Center conducts crisis decision exercises for Congressional leadership, designed to give senior government officials insights into the nuance and complexity of policymaking in the current global security environment, illuminate policy and organizational options, and improve dialog between the Executive-Legislative branches of the Federal government on critical national security issues.
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Other NDU Special Components
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CAPSTONE General and Flag Officer's Course is an intensive six-week course consisting of seminars, case studies, informal discussions, visits to key US military commands within the continental United States, and overseas trips to Europe, the Pacific, and the Western Hemisphere. Overseas field studies involve interactions with Combatant Commanders of US unified commands, American Ambassadors, embassy staffs, senior political and military leaders of foreign governments.
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The PINNACLE curriculum helps prepare prospective joint/combined force commanders to lead joint and combined forces, building upon the progression of knowledge imparted first by CAPSTONE and then by the Joint Flag Officer Warfighting Course. The course is conducted through classroom interactive seminars guided by retired three- and four-star and equivalent interagency senior mentors, reinforced by video teleconferences with commanders in the field and high-level guest speakers.
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The Keystone Course will educate Command Senior Enlisted Leaders (CSELs) currently serving in or slated to serve in a general or flag officer level joint headquarters or Service headquarters that could be assigned as a joint task force. Keystone will parallel the Capstone course for newly selected General and Flag officers in that the learning will be focused on “those that do”. The course will visit the Combatant Commands, Joint Task Forces and senior leadership (both officer and enlisted) in the Washington arena to explore the relationships and challenges of operating in a joint environment. Specifically, the course will cover the very special relationship between the Command Senior Enlisted Leader of a Joint Force Commander and the enlisted personnel from all the services operating under the Commander.
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ISMO executes security assistance programs for select members of the international defense community by providing sustained superior support for all international students and families assigned to NDU. Students come to NDU for courses ranging from two weeks to one year. Whatever the duration of their stay, ISMO is committed to meeting the personal and professional needs of our international students so that they may be able to fully concentrate on their academic experience. International students who wish to enroll at NDU must be nominated by their respective government. The CJCS International Fellows Program (IFP) and the International Counter-Terrorism Fellowship Program (ICTFP) are specific programs administered by the International Student Management Office.
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The Joint Reserve Affairs Center (JRAC) at the National Defense University (NDU) conducts the Reserve Components National Security Course (RCNSC). This course is a two-week seminar offered to senior officers and non-commissioned officers (E8-E9) of the U.S. Reserve Components, allied officers, and select civilians working in national security. The RCNSC is designed to lay a foundation for students moving on to joint command management and staff responsibilities in a multinational, intergovernmental, or joint national security setting. The curriculum consists of lectures, panel discussions, seminars, on-site visits, and a simulation exercise dealing with national security policy and defense resource management. The presenters are faculty members of the National War College (NWC), the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF), the Information Resource Management College (IRMC), and other distinguished speakers. For more information, visit the JRAC website.
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The NATO Education Center and its NATO Orientation Program (NOP) are an extremely valuable part of any preparation for international work with NATO Allies and Partnership for Peace nations. The NATO Alliance is dynamic and engaged in numerous activities far beyond those originally envisioned by the founding nations. The NOP will immerse its participants into NATO structures, issues, challenges, and the international perceptions of each.
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The Secretary of Defense Corporate Fellows Program (SDCFP) established by the Secretary of Defense in 1994 to become a long-term investment in transforming our forces and capabilities and, as such, is a key part of the Department of Defense (DoD) strategy to achieve its transformational goals. Two or more officers from each military service are selected each year to receive their military senior service college credit by training with sponsoring institutions, i.e., corporations, companies, commercial enterprises, etc., who have earned a reputation for insightful long-range planning, organizational and management innovation, and implementation of new information and other technologies. SDCFP Fellows form a cadre of future leaders made knowledgeable in the organizational and operational opportunities made possible by their training throughout the year.
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