Education for S?ap0W?r Straw gy 2020 Message from SECNAV Thomas B. Modly Acting Secretary of the Navy We live in a dynamic era. For our Navy and Marine Corps team, this dynamism will present challenges—known and unknown, seen and unseen. In fact, perhaps the most predictable thing we can say about the future is that it will be unpredictable. Preparing for that future surely means investing in more platforms and new weapons systems, but nothing will be more important than the investment that we make in learning, and in creating a force made up of people who thirst for it. Accordingly, the landmark 2018 Education for Seapower (E4S) report recognized that the intellectual capability of our Navy and Marine Corps team and a lifelong passion for continuous learning will be our foundation of any credible deterrent to war. Further, the E4S report recommended organizational and functional changes designed to lift education to a strategic and budgeting priority alongside our platforms and weapons systems. It also identified, and follow-on Secretarial direction confirmed, the need for a comprehensive education strategy to unify the disparate elements of our Naval University System and to integrate education effectively into talent management initiatives. With that direction in mind, the Department of the Navy’s Chief Learning Officer, in coordination with the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant of the Marine Corps, developed the following, first-ever Education for Seapower Strategy 2020 to align the policies and resources required to produce a better educated and more agile naval force – for officers, enlisted, and civilians alike. Above all, this strategy provides unified Departmental leadership direction to regard naval education as a critical warfighting enabler. It is only through a sound educational foundation, and supported, continuous lifelong learning that our naval leaders will be able to comprehend the dynamic geopolitical environment, and make key decisions that will ultimately affect the security and prosperity of the United States. By implementing and iterating this Education for Seapower Strategy 2020 for the long run, we will continue to build an integrated naval force that is intellectually agile and adaptive – a decisive force from the sea that can out-think and out-fight any challenger to American interests, while better enabling our national security to prevail despite an unpredictable future. Contents INTRODUCTION 1 INTENT OF EDUCATION FOR SEAPOWER STRATEGY 2020 3 STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES PILLAR 1 CREATE A CONTINUUM OF LEARNING FOR THE ENTIRE FORCE 6 STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES PILLAR 2 INTEGRATE EDUCATION INTO OUR TALENT MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORKS 10 STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES PILLAR 3 INVEST IN OUR NAVAL UNIVERSITY SYSTEM 12 CONCLUSION 18 Education for Seapower Strateg y 2020 Introduction The United States Navy and Marine Corps have a long and successful history of creating world-class educational institutions to prepare their forces for all aspects of naval warfare. The United States Naval Academy, the Naval War College, the Naval Postgraduate School, Marine Corps University, and the Naval ROTC programs have produced some of our nation’s finest leaders in war and peace. We are proud of this legacy, which provides an outstanding foundation as we move towards the future. We must, however, continually seek to improve our approach to education to ensure our competitive advantage. In recent years, Defense and Naval Leaders have repeatedly called for a renewed emphasis on professional military education as a foundation of national security. The 2018 National Defense Strategy observed that “the creativity and talent of the American warfighter is our greatest enduring strength,” but warned that our professional military education system had “stagnated.” The following year, the landmark Education for Seapower (E4S) report concluded that to maintain naval power in an era of great power competition and technological change, the Navy and Marine Corps need to strengthen and expand their educational efforts. In line with these conclusions, the Commandant’s Planning Guidance, the Chief of Naval Operations’ Fragmentary Order, and the Department of the Navy’s Human Capital Strategy all recognize the need for changes in the prioritization, integration, and resourcing of naval education. On February 5, 2019, the Secretary of the Navy issued his E4S Decision Memorandum calling for a bold new direction for naval education. The E4S Decision Memorandum ordered, among other things, the development of a comprehensive naval education strategy. Education for Seapower Strategy 2020 responds to this mandate, and to calls for improvement from the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant of the Marine Corps, by providing a clear plan to help Sailors, Marines, and Department of the Navy civil servants develop the knowledge, critical thinking skills, and strategic perspectives necessary to prevail against any adversary across the full spectrum of conflict. This strategy is informed by and responds to our current geopolitical context. At the end of the Cold War, the United States possessed a massive economic and technological edge over all potential opponents. Today, for the first time in decades, we are competing on a more level playing field and our advantage is declining. In this new era, the intellectual capability of our Navy and Marine Corps team will be the primary military differentiator between our nation and its adversaries and the true foundation of any credible deterrent to war. 1 ?x ?at-Wation for Seapovver Strategy 2020 Naval lCommumw COHege This strategy seeks to advance the intellectual capability of our naval forces. The strategy will create a decisive competitive advantage by: • Developing leaders and warfighters who possess good judgment, creativity, a commitment to ethics, and excellent analytic and problem solving skills; • Providing naval forces with an intellectual overmatch against our adversaries; • Making the naval force more proficient by improving strategic thinking, increasing geopolitical awareness, building key technical and professional capabilities, and deepening our understanding of the conditions in which military force can be used effectively. Responsibilities In order for this strategy to succeed, it will take much more than good plans, good intentions, and sufficient resources. Success will require every Sailor, Marine, and Department of the Navy civilian employee to invest in their educational and professional competencies. Individual Sailors, Marines, and Civil Servants Marines, Sailors, and civilians of all ranks should value learning as the cornerstone of their professional development. They have a responsibility to take full advantage of learning opportunities and to treat education as an integral component of their operational competence. They should value academic, technical, and ethical excellence and embrace a commitment to become lifelong learners. Naval Leaders Current and rising naval leaders bear a special responsibility in our education system. They should support, encourage, and advise the men and women they lead as those Sailors, Marines, and civilian employees chart their educational courses. Leaders must create a climate of intellectual exchange and take an active role in debates over the future of our force structures, strategy, and tactics. Most importantly, senior civilian and military leaders must ensure that our education system is properly designed, resourced, and supported so that we deliver on the educational promises we make to our force. Senior leaders should seek to become warriorscholars and warrior-diplomats, proficient in military history, strategy, planning, and operations. They must be lifelong learners and educational role models for the men and women they lead. Education for Seapower Strateg y 2020 Intent of Education for Seapower Strategy 2020 Naval Educators Naval educators bear a particular responsibility to ensure that men and women in the Marine Corps and Navy receive the best military education in the world. Leaders of our military education institutions must run world-class, cost-effective institutions that produce high quality graduates with relevant strategic and warfighting skills. Faculty members must be leaders in their respective fields and consistently deliver high-quality education to Sailors and Marines operating across the globe, using the full range of education delivery methods. Above all, naval educators should uphold and enforce rigorous academic standards, support academic freedom, and encourage intellectual preparedness among their students and colleagues. Assumptions The following key assumptions bear on this strategy’s approach to fulfilling the vision and specified tasks set forth in the Secretary of the Navy’s E4S Decision Memorandum: • The Navy and Marine Corps are composed of diverse officer and enlisted communities that have unique career path requirements and high operational tempos, which our approach to education should respect and value. • This endeavor should optimize the quantity, quality, and accessibility of our programs and curricula – creating the right number of programs of the right size and delivery method, offered in the appropriate subjects—to meet our educational requirements. 3 Education for Seapower Strateg y 2020 • To target appropriate educational opportunities to the appropriate audience, the Navy and Marines Corps must identify what everyone needs to know, what many people need to know, and what a few people need to know (All, Many, Few). • Certain external laws and policies, such as the Blended Retirement System, Department of Defense Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) requirements, and “Up or Out” policies bear directly on this strategy’s implementation. Where authority for change rests outside of the Department’s span of control, we will advocate for the changes necessary to achieve this strategy’s goals. • Learning is integral to every aspect of a naval leader’s career. Formal education is complemented by both experiential learning obtained in the operating forces and selfdirected study that taps into an individual’s natural curiosity and personal interests. Naval Education Pillars Education for Seapower Strategy 2020 is based upon three pillars. First, the Navy and Marine Corps must create a continuum of learning for the entire force. Second, our organization must integrate education into our talent management frameworks. Finally, the Department of the Navy must strengthen and invest in the Naval University System. For each of these pillars, this strategy identifies objectives that the Department of the Navy should accomplish in the near-, mid-, and long-term, as well as specific action items to accomplish these objectives. Collectively, these three pillars seek to strengthen intellectual development in seven critical areas: creative and critical analysis; ethical decision-making; strategic thinking; warfighting excellence; geopolitical awareness; technical and technological competence; and resource management and acquisition acuity. 4 Education for Seapovver Strategy 20200 Education for Seapower Strateg y 2020 Pillar 1 Create a Continuum of Learning for the Entire Force Today’s Sailors, Marines, and Department of the Navy civil servants are well-educated. Many of them have graduated from great colleges and universities in the United States and abroad, attended rigorous professional military education and training programs, and pursued off-duty learning opportunities on their own time. Despite this, the Navy and Marine Corps have not taken full advantage of our force’s intellectual potential. Our enlisted Sailors and Marines should have the opportunity to study and learn in world-class education programs that are directly relevant to their professional careers. Our officers need a career roadmap that enhances their warfighting capabilities through professional military education and world-class civilian degree programs. Our civilian team members need access to long-term professional development support throughout their tenure with the Department of the Navy. Sustained career development through educational and professional opportunities contributes to the system of continuous learning that will forge the naval warfighters of tomorrow. Objective A: Create the U.S. Naval Community College Twenty years ago, General Charles C. Krulak, the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps, highlighted the growing strategic importance of the most junior non-commissioned officers. In the coming years, this trend will accelerate as warfighting becomes more technologically complex, the pace of combat decision-making accelerates, and ship crews become smaller and more versatile. To fully capitalize on the potential capabilities of enlisted Sailors and Marines and to support their intellectual development, the Department of the Navy will establish the United States Naval Community College (USNCC). All enlisted Sailors and Marines will be enrolled in the community college upon enlistment and will accrue appropriate college credit on their USNCC transcript when they complete military training schools. These Sailors and Marines will be able to begin to earn an associate degree at the USNCC at no cost once they have completed their accessions training pipeline. Eventually, select civil servant cohorts will have an opportunity to learn alongside their uniformed peers. 6 The USNCC will ultimately be a fully-accredited higher education institution, but degrees will initially be issued by high-quality, accredited civilian education partners with successful track records of delivering associate degrees online. The USNCC will create and offer a small number of “navalized” general education courses, but the majority of course work will be offered by civilian university or community college partners in fields relevant to modern naval warfighting, including but not limited to cyber, information technology, management, data analytics, and computer science. The USNCC will enter into transfer (articulation) agreements with its partners to ensure that all course work can transfer to civilian degree programs, which will provide a foundation from which Sailors and Marines can continue formal education. Since Sailors and Marines face many time constraints associated with service needs, the USNCC and its partners will offer courses in a variety of flexible formats synchronous, asynchronous, and self-paced - so that rigorous naval education is available wherever and whenever needed. This new effort will supplement, not replace, traditional tuition assistance. Tuition assistance will still be available to Sailors and Marines to pursue degrees beyond the associate level, or in fields less relevant to warfighting. Action: The USNCC is a top priority for the Department of the Navy. In support of this goal, the Department of the Navy will complete initial program design by February 28, 2020; seek Congressional authorization during 2020; and enroll students for its initial proof of concept in the January term of 2021. USNCC partnerships will continue to expand until the college is fully operational within the next five years. Objective B: Strengthen and Align Mid-Career Officer Warfighting Curricula The basic elements of a first-class officer education system are (a) an outstanding undergraduate education; (b) primary and intermediate career educational opportunities that advance professionalism, warfighting capability, and intellectual development; and (c) a senior in- Education for Seapower Strateg y 2020 residence strategic educational experience that prepares the officer for senior leadership positions. While the Navy and Marine Corps’ programs for undergraduate and senior strategic education are excellent, the current methods used to educate junior and mid-grade officers are not as well aligned to educational goals and career paths. The Marine Corps offers the Expeditionary Warfare School and Marine Corps University Command and Staff College to officers in the O-3 to O-4 range through a wide variety of delivery methods. Comparable primary and intermediate curricula exist at the Naval Command and Staff College, but in-residence attendance is limited to O-4s and officer inventory makes filling its quotas a perennial challenge. The Navy also provides aspects of primary and intermediate education through the warfare communities’ tactical and leader development courses, but these do not uniformly bridge the gap between undergraduate and senior strategic studies programs. Strengthening standardized primary and intermediate warfighting curricula for Navy and Marine Corps officers is critical to advancing naval officer education and to promoting naval integration. The curriculum should offer approximately twenty courses directly relevant to current warfighting challenges. The courses will be free-standing and stackable and eventually could be pursued to meet requirements for Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) or a master’s degree in military science. These courses should continue the developmental effort that began during our officers’ undergraduate studies and set them on track to grow into tomorrow’s senior leaders. We will offer these courses through a range of appropriate learning formats, focusing primarily on online and executive courses, which combine short in-residence terms with study away from campus. To expand access to these programs to our entire Department of the Navy workforce, we will also explore the potential of open enrollment for these programs. Action: Immediately, the Chief Learning Officer (CLO), in coordination with DCNO N7 and DC (CD&I), will create a process to identify learning outcomes to bridge the gap between pre-commissioning education and senior war college level education for junior and mid-grade Navy and Marine Corps officers. The process will assess how best to deliver a curriculum across warfare communities, with a mid-term goal of piloting a small number of courses with two to four communities. The CLO will also immediately identify civilian education opportunities that meet these desired learning outcomes and work to make the courses available to our force by FY-21. Objective C: Adjust the Focus of Naval Education The CLO’s Coordinating Group (CLO-CG) consists of DCNO N7, DC (CD&I), Navy and Marine Corps leaders from the Fleet, the Naval University System, and Cyber, Naval Research, and Naval Intelligence enterprises. In its inaugural meeting in October 2019, 7 Education for Seapower Strateg y 2020 the group determined that the Department of the Navy has gaps in knowledge about the value and limitations of emerging technologies and potential adversary capabilities and intentions. Secretary of Defense guidance calling for a 50 percent increase in the number of allies training alongside U.S. troops as well as the security needs of our naval forces. Action: In the near term, the CLO, DCNO N7, Objective E: Modernize Education Program Delivery and DC (CD&I) will form two working groups to identify what our force (All/Many/Few) needs to understand about emerging technologies and the capabilities, culture, and intentions of our adversaries. The CLO, DCNO N7, and DC (CD&I) will set clear learning outcomes for these working groups, and then propose curricula and education delivery mechanisms to achieve these outcomes. Once this work is completed, the CLO’s Coordinating Group will review two additional high priority areas: (1) leadership and ethics and (2) resource management and acquisitions. Objective D: Enhance Partnerships Through Education The National Defense Strategy notes the fundamental importance of allies and partners in our efforts to advance the national security of the United States. From the Revolutionary War to the present day, the Navy and the Marine Corps have worked with allies and partners to achieve some of our greatest victories. Our history teaches us that interoperability is very difficult to build during wartime, and thus, we need to place great emphasis on building that interoperability during times of relative peace. Clearly, interoperability requires that weapons systems be complementary and that communications systems be linked, but intellectual interoperability - the ability to communicate and analyze problems jointly - is equally important. One way enhance our intellectual interoperability is for officers to attend the PME programs of our allies and partners and for our allies and partners, in turn, to send their officers to attend our PME programs. Action: In the mid-term, the CLO, in coordination with DCNO N7 and DC (CD&I), will develop a plan to increase the number of allied and partner nation students attending Naval University System institutions as well as the number of Navy and Marine Corps officers attending foreign schools. As this plan is developed, the CLO will take into account recent 8 The Navy and the Marine Corps are our nation’s forward deployed and expeditionary forces- the tip of America’s spear across the globe. Educating a force deployed in every ocean and on multiple continents with demanding operational commitments presents great challenges. Fortunately, the development of online education and the dramatic expansion of executive education, which requires only short or intermittent periods in-residence, provide more tools to meet the educational needs of our forces. Using these new methods will help us provide quality education while minimizing disruption to career paths and reducing personnel transfers. Action: To modernize the delivery of education programs in the near- and mid-term, the CLO and NUS will: • Expand our partnerships with top graduate schools to provide more executive educational opportunities to our force; • Ensure that the new Mid-Career Officer Warfighting Curriculum is delivered using online and executive formats; and • Evaluate existing and any new Naval Postgraduate School and Naval War College programs to determine whether they can be offered using new delivery models. Objective F: Expand DON Civilian Education Development In January 2020, the Secretary of the Navy issued a new Human Capital Strategy to be implemented for the Department’s civilian workforce. In this strategy, education and learning are elevated as national security enablers for the civilian workforce, mirroring the Education for Seapower report findings for uniformed members. Education for Seapower Strateg y 2020 Many enterprises and commands have developed discrete education programs for their respective workforces, providing opportunities that increase performance in evolving and leading business systems, audit and accounting programs, and enterprise risk management, among other areas. We will investigate ways to build on these successes by implementing additional education programs to advance Department of the Navy civilian learning efforts. Corps send significant percentages of their total officer corps to in-residence and distributed (online and executive) learning opportunities. Action: In the near-term, the CLO will work with Action: Education for Seapower Strategy 2020 the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs (ASN(M&RA)) and establish, by October 1, 2020, a “Secretary’s Executive Fellows Program.” This program will send the most highly qualified leaders in our civilian workforce to topranked educational institutions for executive programs leading to master’s degrees in management or other areas necessary to support an integrated, effective, and efficient naval fighting force. The CLO will also identify potential cohorts of civil servants who would benefit from attending the new U.S. Naval Community College. Objective G: Increase the Number of Officers Pursuing PME % OFFICERS IN-RESIDENCE % IN DISTRIBUTED LEARNING Navy 2.9% 6.7% Marine Corps 4.7% 11.9% FORCE calls for the Marine Corps to maintain this education commitment. For the Navy, this strategy calls for an increase in the percentage of officers pursuing in-residence education to 3.9 percent and an increase in the percentage of officers pursuing distributed learning opportunities, such as online and executive courses, to 10 percent by FY-26. Beginning in FY-20, the CLO will work with DCNO N7, DCNO N1, and Fleet and Type Commanders to ensure that we make measurable progress towards these goals each year. As the NUS improves its ability to provide more distributed and executive learning opportunities, the balance of in-residence and distance learning participation will be re-evaluated. Currently, as the chart below reflecting FY-19 attendance indicates, both the Navy and Marine 9 Education for Seapower Strateg y 2020 Pillar 2 Integrate Education into our Talent Management Frameworks There is a close connection between an individual’s curiosity and aptitude for learning and their capacity to lead. As Sailors, Marines, and Department of the Navy civilians assume increasing responsibility, they should have access to educational opportunities to strengthen their professional capabilities and hone their leadership skills. Successfully integrating education into naval talent management frameworks requires that our organization provide more diverse learning opportunities for naval leaders and reward those individuals who demonstrate learning excellence. Our talent management systems must also incentivize and reward academic experiences and achievement to set institutional expectations for continuous learning. We will enact new policies to encourage and reward the pursuit of professional military and civilian education. Our new approach will transform our performance evaluations, promotion, and school selection processes and create a culture of intellectual development in our Navy, Marine Corps, and civilian workforces. Objective A: Review Education Selection Boards Educational selection boards are critical for identifying naval officers who have demonstrated aptitude for operational command and would 10 benefit from attendance at service war colleges, international war colleges, or equivalent civilian graduate institutions. The Secretary’s E4S Decision Memorandum requires that the Navy and Marine Corps institute selection methods for attending in-residence graduate education. In line with this requirement, our services will create and/or modify selection boards to identify top-performing officers for further educational opportunities. Reliable, authoritative data is one of the keys to enabling educational selection boards to screen officers for education opportunities and our personnel systems to detail them to the right billets or assignments. The services have efforts underway now to transform the data systems they use to store and process personnel data, but these initiatives will take time to reach fruition. Action: In the near term, we will leverage current administrative screening processes to identify talent for educational opportunities. Additionally, the CLO will review the adequacy of current selection boards and work through DCNO N7 and DC (CD&I) to ensure ongoing data transformation efforts incorporate requirements to record and process information regarding academic aptitude and educational achievement. In the long term, we will change administrative screening processes to refine how we assign personnel to educational programs and follow-on tours. The Secretary’s E4S Decision Memorandum states that the Department’s CLO, in collaboration with DCNO N7 and DC (CD&I), will recommend to the Secretary of the Navy educational requirements for selection to command and the next higher paygrade. These requirements will be included in selection board precepts as orders to the Presidents of selection boards in both services. Promotion precepts that reward educational and intellectual excellence, and strict adherence to their guidance by selection board Presidents, represent the fastest and surest method for us to move toward our goal: to become a force that values, respects, and rewards intellectual preparation for war. Action: Effective immediately, the CLO will review all precepts pertaining to Officer promotion boards, command boards, and selection boards for Federal Executive Fellowships, Permanent Military Professors, the Acquisition Workforce, and SECNAV’s Tours with Industry and make recommendations to the Secretary of the Navy for all educational requirements. Any recommendations to the Secretary of the Navy effecting educational requirements of the Acquisition Workforce will be made in coordination with ASN (RD&A). Objective C: Integrate Education into Fitness Reports and Evaluations To become a great learning organization, performance evaluations should assess (1) the degree to which officers and enlisted personnel have pursued their own education, and (2) the degree to which they have advanced and supported the education of the men and women they supervise and command. The Secretary’s E4S Decision Memorandum requires that the Navy and Marine Corps make demonstrated learning achievement a key discriminator in officer fitness reports and enlisted evaluations. Learning achievements - just like leadership, physical fitness, and other performance categories currently graded by each reporting senior- should be continually evaluated to ensure progress is made along the course of a career. Education for Seapower Strategy 2020 considers diverse learning achievements relevant to the proper evaluation of subordinates. Examples of such achievements include but are not limited to the following: • Academic achievement in college or university courses; • Achievement in Primary and Intermediate Warfighting courses; • Achievement in JPME; • Noteworthy accomplishments in exercises, planning, or wargaming; Education for Seapower Strateg y 2020 Objective B: Update Officer Promotion Precepts • Publication in scholarly or professional journals; • Excellence as a faculty member; or • Achievement of appropriate levels of language or computer programming proficiency. Both services are currently pursuing initiatives to revise their performance evaluation systems as part of ongoing efforts to modernize our personnel systems. Including educational achievement in these efforts is a high priority. Action: Prior to April 1, 2020, the CLO and Chief of Naval Personnel (N1) will present to the Secretary of the Navy a plan of actions and milestones to incorporate education into the personnel evaluation system of the Navy. The CLO will work with DCNO N7, DC (CD&I), and service personnel leaders to ensure alignment to the Secretary’s intent and implement bridging mechanisms, if required, until new evaluation systems come on line. Objective D: Tailor Career Paths to Meet Department of the Navy Needs Career path management and sensitivity to operational requirements must be central to this effort to improve and enhance naval education. In order to ensure that we maintain the balance between operational requirements and career path management, the Department of the Navy must align new education initiatives with the needs of the operating forces. Action: In the near term, the CLO will work with DCNO N7, DC (CD&I), and the warfare communities to identify ways to tailor education to complement our various community career paths. An implementation plan will be staffed and promulgated separately by the end of 2020. 11 Education for Seapower Strateg y 2020 Pillar 3 Strengthen and Invest in our Naval University System The most successful businesses and non-profit organizations in the world aspire to be “learning organizations.” A great learning organization constantly assesses the intellectual capabilities of its workforce, seeking to identify gaps that may prevent optimal performance. These organizations also provide world-class learning resources to their teams to close these gaps, with strong feedback loops between the workforce, managers, and educators to ensure that educational efforts are timely, relevant, and effective. System. The NUS consists of five learning institutions: the Naval War College, Marine Corps University, Naval Postgraduate School, United States Naval Academy, and the new United States Naval Community College. The NUS will be operated on the model of a great state university system: the CLO will provide leadership, oversight, and strategic guidance on finance, curriculum, and outcomes, but service leadership and individual campuses will retain the independence they need to chart their own course to mission fulfillment. To become a true learning organization, the Department of the Navy will develop and improve the educational infrastructure of our entire organization. We must invest in our learning institutions, our faculty, and the high-performing staff who support them. We must also develop a more powerful wargaming strategy and create new relationships for intellectual sharing and debate between the Fleets and Marine Operating Forces and our cyber, research, and intelligence enterprises. Together, these investments will strengthen our Naval University System and increase the intellectual preparedness of our Sailors, Marines, and civilians. A key focus of this system will be ensuring that each component fulfills a complementary role within the learning continuum, integrates fully with others in the system as appropriate, and avoids duplication of effort. At this inflection point in our history, when demand for quality education is in tension with officer inventory and high operational commitments, we need to review our current menu of degree and non-degree programs to ensure they align to our strategic intent. Objective A: Establish Naval University System Framework and Standards The primary educational delivery system that undergirds this strategy is the Naval University 12 The NUS will maintain the highest standards for academic quality and sound fiscal management, the hallmarks of a premier academic institution. This will include: • A diverse and high performing faculty, staff, and leadership team; • High emphasis on maintaining relevant accreditation; • A student-faculty ratio in line with peer civilian and military institutions; Education for Seapower Strateg y 2020 • An appropriate number of well-crafted degree and learning programs designed for long-term career development, with fewer specialized programs designed to meet only the narrow needs of a particular curriculum sponsor for one utilization tour; • Costs per degree commensurate with those at civilian and military peer institutions; • A graduate network supporting continued learning and mentorship for long-term career development; ‒ Ensure their schools’ mission statements are aligned with this strategy and have sufficient clarity to test the appropriateness of continuing current programs or adopting new programs or policies; ‒ Align their schools’ strategic plans to this strategy, including plans for budget, staffing, and curriculum development; ‒ Adopt a plan to ensure that every academic program and department receives outside academic peer review and evaluation for quality and outcomes at least once every ten years; ‒ Adopt a thirty-year campus master plan that identifies, at a minimum, space for future campus development, projected new building needs, necessary adaptations due to climate change, and planned reconstruction and renovation; ‒ Adopt a clear faculty development and support plan; ‒ Adopt a plan for conducting 360-degree performance reviews for key leaders; and ‒ Adopt, with guidance from the CLO, an accurate, transparent, and uniform comparative metrics performance dashboard that will allow stakeholders to measure progress toward strategic goals and evaluate performance outcomes compared to institutional peers. • Courses and degree programs offered in a mix of learning delivery methods; and • Low overhead costs consistent with sound management, to allow maximum resources to flow to the academic program. Action: In the near term, the CLO will work with DC (CD&I), DCNO N7, and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Financial Management and Comptroller (ASN (FM&C)) to develop a long-term budget process for the Naval University System. Action: The CLO, in collaboration with DCNO N7 and DC (CD&I), will conduct a curriculum review in FY-20 and FY-21 at all NUS institutions. Action: To achieve these high standards, each school within the NUS, in consultation with the CLO, will apply the following best practices in higher education for their schools by the start of FY-21: 13 Education for Seapower Strateg y 2020 Objective B: Support Naval University System Faculty and Staff Objective C: Integrate and Utilize Naval University System Advisory Boards Great professors are the lifeblood of any worldclass university system, and thus their recruitment, retention, and support should be a top priority. In order to maintain the best NUS faculty, we must implement new initiatives that promote intellectual exchange and encourage academic excellence. The Education for Seapower Advisory Board will provide expert advice to the Secretary of the Navy about the Naval University System and execution of this strategy. Each campus will also possess an advisory board or subcommittee specific to its institution to provide the advice necessary for excellent performance and maintenance of accreditation. Action: By June 30, 2020, the CLO will promulgate a plan to create a number of Naval University Distinguished Professorships at each campus to recognize merit at the senior professor level and provide appropriate compensation. Action: In the mid-term, the CLO will work with DCNO N7 and DC (CD&I) to explore avenues to attract quality officers with the appropriate skills to serve as military faculty without disadvantaging their career potential. Policy changes will be recommended to the Secretary of the Navy by the end of 2020. Action: Institution leaders will jointly develop a plan for the CLO by June 30, 2020 to provide for faculty exchange and visiting professorships on each campus, so we can begin to share ideas across traditional campus and service silos. 14 Action: By June 30, 2020, the CLO, in collaboration with DCNO N7 and DC (CD&I), will provide guidance to all institutions and their boards or subcommittees on best practices for use and operation of higher education boards in a governmental context. Objective D: Reinvigorate Naval University System Infrastructure Three of the four current campuses (Naval War College, Naval Postgraduate School, and U.S. Naval Academy) have significant infrastructure renovation challenges associated with maintaining aging buildings of major educational, historical, and architectural value. Failure to address these challenges will inhibit the achievement of optimal educational outcomes. Objective F: Expand the Use of Learning Management Systems Action: The creation of a unified NUS may provide Major finance, business, and technology corporations use learning management systems to help their workforce to grow intellectually and to assist their managers as they seek to identify, deploy, and reward the diverse talents of their workforce. Increasingly, these systems are powered by artificial intelligence to provide each employee with learning opportunities uniquely tailored to their education level, intellectual capability, available time, interests, and work needs. These automated systems identify the next specific learning intervention an employee may want to pursue to advance and grow, provide multiple educational options for paths forward, and measure strengths and outcomes. These systems help members of the workforce explore hidden talents and proclivities and develop diverse talents to meet the institution’s larger mission. They are also the foundation of a sophisticated talent management system. Successful intellectual development within the system can lead to different job opportunities within the firm and boosts retention by providing employees with concrete paths toward their personal and career goals. coordination with the heads of the three institutions, will present a plan to address these challenges to serve as a basis for discussion with senior Department leadership. opportunities to capture synergies in areas like information technology and library management. The CLO, in consultation with campus leaders, will develop a plan by June 1, 2020 to review current operations, identify potential synergy areas, and make recommendations for the future. Objective E: Identify and Implement Wargaming Best Practices Over the last one hundred years, wargaming has made an indelible impact upon how the Navy and Marine Corps have waged war on land and at sea. The Education for Seapower report emphasized the importance of wargaming throughout a naval professional’s career to prepare them for future conflict. Today’s wargaming technologies are growing in capability. Federally Funded Research and Development Centers and corporate technology partners alike have made great progress in developing wargaming systems that fuse decision science with problem solving. These developments warrant future investigation for integration into our learning continuum. Action: In the near term, the CLO will convene a working group that is informed by NUS wargaming experts and other stakeholders in the private sector and academia. This group will develop recommendations for incorporation of advanced wargaming concepts and supporting technology into education programs. The working group will present its findings and recommendations to the CLO-CG no later than the first quarter of FY-21. Education for Seapower Strateg y 2020 Action: By June 1, 2020, the CLO and DCNO N7, in The Secretary of the Navy’s Human Capital Strategy, led by the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs (ASN (M&RA)), identifies the use of learning management systems as critical to developing a fully empowered 21st century workforce. Action: In the near term, the CLO, in coordination with ASN (M&RA), will review department experiments with learning management systems, and explore the potential value of adopting a comprehensive DON learning management system that meets the requirements of the NUS, DON Civilian workforce, and the services. Recommendations and an implementation plan, if appropriate, will be presented to the Secretary of the Navy by January 1, 2021. 15 Education for Seapower Strateg y 2020 Objective G: Evaluate JPME Programs This strategy is designed to increase educational opportunities and achievement while making naval education align with the sea-going requirements of the Navy and Marine Corps team. As the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff develops the future model of JPME, the Department of the Navy will provide advice and counsel to help improve and modernize the JPME program. Action: In the near term, the CLO, DCNO N7, and DC (CD&I) will form a working group with stakeholders to develop JPME reform recommendations for the DoD and the DON that align to ongoing OSD and Joint Staff efforts. Objective H: Establish E4S Metrics and Dashboard We cannot make real progress unless we have a baseline understanding of what key communities know and do not know about critical subject areas and how well our institutions are performing. We have made two very preliminary steps in this direction. First, the Naval War College has administered an experimental intermediate warfighting knowledge test to a small subset of war college students, revealing significant gaps in necessary knowledge. Second, the CLO’s Coordination Group has determined that we possess potentially decisive gaps in knowledge about the value and limitations of emerging technologies and the capabilities and intentions of key potential adversaries. This represents a small step forward, but we need to conduct much more comprehensive assessments, founded on authoritative data, in order to successfully implement this education strategy. Action: To achieve this goal, the CLO will develop an initial assessment plan for the force and for each NUS institution no later than end of 2020. Progress toward achieving the objectives outlined in this strategy will be assessed every year through a metrical dashboard that compares targets and results, to be reviewed by the Secretary of the Navy and the Education for Seapower Advisory Board. 16 Education for Seapovver Strategy 2020 Education for Seapower Strateg y 2020 18 Conclusion Our current Naval University System has many strengths. We possess outstanding military educational institutions with brilliant and dedicated faculty and staff. We have a heritage of intellectual excellence that provided an essential margin of victory in World War II and laid the foundation for decades of naval dominance thereafter. We have created valuable pathways to additional learning experiences at civilian universities and through fellowships with outstanding private sector and governmental organizations. These strengths provide us with a remarkable foundation and legacy as we look forward to an even brighter future. Education for Seapower Strategy 2020 provides initial direction to our force as we work to link how we learn directly to how we fight. As we move forward, this strategy will adjust to reflect new realities. As we evolve, we will, however, remain constant in our fundamental commitment to intellectual preparedness and warfighting advantage. War is the harshest auditor of institutions. To deter future conflicts and to win those we cannot avoid, we need to operate at or near our full theoretical potential. We cannot reach that level of maximum effectiveness without great education for our entire force. Out-fighting our opponents will require that we out-think them. Education for Seapovver Strategy 2020 C53 v?l fr ,r