US military staff college educating joint and multinational warfighters at the operational level.
The Joint Forces Staff College educates national security professionals to plan and execute operational-level joint, multinational, and interagency operations. It instills a primary commitment to joint, multinational, and interagency teamwork, attitudes, and perspectives. JFSC provides military officers the tools and training to operate effectively in joint environments where the Armed Services must work collaboratively.
JFSC comprises three schools: the Joint Advanced Warfighting School (JAWS), the Joint and Combined Warfighting School (JCWS), and the Joint Information School (JIS). Academic programs include the Joint Transition Course, Homeland Security Planner's Course, and Joint, Interagency, and Multinational Planner's Course. The college offers instruction in resident (10 weeks), satellite (10 weeks at MacDill AFB in Tampa), and hybrid (40 weeks with distance education) formats to accommodate different officer populations and career constraints.
Originally established as the Armed Forces Staff College in 1946 following World War II, the institution moved to Norfolk in August 1946 and became a permanent facility with Normandy Hall's construction in 1962. It was assigned to the National Defense University in August 1981 and renamed the Joint Forces Staff College in 2000. The college expanded its JPME Phase II offerings beyond its resident program, with a satellite location established at MacDill AFB in 2013.
The college is located at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads, adjacent to Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia. Notable facilities include Normandy Hall, Okinawa Hall (opened 1999), the Congressman Owen Pickett Wargaming Center, and the Congressman Ike Skelton Library, which specializes in research on joint and combined operations, military history, naval science, and irregular warfare.