Without such - while attempted change won’t be just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic because the Naval War College is not a sinking ship, just moored - change will be marginal at best. The simple answer: Informed, involved leadership whose North Star remains the national security needs of our nation’s Naval and Joint operational-level commanders, as well as those in the highest echelons of strategic leadership.

The question then becomes how to create and maintain an environment hospitable to those requirements at the Naval War College - and I suspect other PME institutions as well. What can reverse the narrowing 'margin of excellence' trend? In a review of the IG report, I suggested as key: a high-quality faculty actively engaged in their fields academic freedom and institutional support to maintain their expertise and a job environment that allows faculty to challenge the students without fear of losing their jobs.

When the academically strongest program gets 'dinged,' it prompts the question of what it will take to institute meaningful change in PME.

Some assert that this is the case because the Navy has largely left the institution to its own devices - a form of benign neglect under which the institution has flourished.īut there has been considerable discussion consequent to the release of the Navy Inspector General’s (IG) report on the Naval War College regarding the report’s meaning and potential ramifications, including efforts in some quarters to spin the IG report as 'mostly good news.' That’s been a tough spin though, made difficult by the report’s finding that 'there are indicators that the margin of excellence for this institution has narrowed, and this trend may continue in the future unless external and internal factors are addressed.' Specific internal factors cited include 'organizational structure and governance, poor communications, faculty perceptions of ineffective corporate representation, hiring practices that favor proximity and familiarity with retired naval officers that may lack prestigious academic credentials and diversity.' The Naval War College (NWC) is, in my opinion, the academically strongest program among the professional military education (PME) intermediate and senior schools.

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