Preparing Navy Officers for Leadership at the Operational Level of War

Abstract

No officer is inherently prepared to effectively apply and orchestrate military forces throughout the broad spectrums of space and time germane to the operational level of war. The Navy's Professional Military Education (PME) curriculum must, therefore, prepare officers for the challenges and responsibilities of such leadership. The U.S. Naval War College has a rich history of preparing officers who would eventually excel at the operational level of war. Best exhibited by what is known as the applicatory method during the Interwar period, students were ingrained to think critically according to the decision making principles within the "Estimate of the Situation." They then applied their decision making abilities to wargames. Validated by the Pacific Campaign successes of those officers who had previously benefited from this War College preparation, this combined and integrated educational focus is the best means of preparing officers to lead at the operational level. Maritime PME should be refocused accordingly.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 03, 2010
Accession Number
ADA525079

Entities

People

  • Eric J. Madonia

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Command And Control
  • Curriculum
  • Doctrine
  • Education
  • Instructions
  • Leadership
  • Military Education
  • Military Operations
  • Naval Operations
  • Naval Warfare
  • Navy
  • Psychology
  • Second World War
  • Students
  • Training
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.

Technology Areas

  • Space