The Joint Combined Warfighting School is a ten-week course. In early March, we graduated a class a week early, so that the students could get home as the COVID-19 crisis progressed. Further, the decision was made by the commandant to deliver our next class, JCWS 20-2, online. This gave the faculty two weeks to prepare for online delivery.
Arguably, the most important part of preparing to deliver the class online is our level of comfort with the technology we use. The first week of our preparation included instructions on Blackboard. While we used the system for assignments and grading for the in residence class, moving online means we will have synchronous and asynchronous classes on Blackboard.
On Wednesday we get the order to work from home. I make a run to the library under the assumption that I will not be in the office for a long time. You can’t go wrong with some extra reading material. Further, I take home some of my office equipment, laptop, extra screen, a small whiteboard, and all my binders of course material. As I depart the parking lot, I think to myself that it will be a long time until I walk into the college again. As of this writing, I have yet to return.
Week 1 30 March – 3 April
30 March: Introductions and a tour of Blackboard
Our first day of class focused on getting students comfortable with use of Blackboard. We walk them through the class calendar, which is managed in Office 365. Every student and the faculty have an account, and as the seminar team lead, I manage the calendar. For the online delivery, our going in positon is two synchronous sessions per day, one two-hour block in the morning, and one two-hour block in the afternoon.
Our students are arrayed across the world. They are spread across each time zone in the Continental United States. I have one international fellow, a Brazilian student who is on Eastern Standard Time, and two students assigned to NATO, living in Belgium. There is no perfect time for everyone, but we go with 0930-1130, and 1330-1530 EST.
In the opening session, everyone pulls up their video, and I feel like I’m watching an episode of the Brady Bunch or Hollywood Squares. After about ten minutes I establish the rule that unless one of us feels it absolutely necessary, we don’t need to see each other on video. This decision pays off, as some of the verbal communication improves once the video is turned off.
To culminate the first day, each of the faculty delivers an abbreviated version of Who Am I? This Red Team technique was especially valuable to building team chemistry in the classroom, and my fellow faculty members agree that we should do our best to implement it. Instead of the normal 15-20 minutes, we present for 5-7 minutes. Following our demonstration we ask the students to develop their own, and to begin presenting the following day. This type of introduction becomes one of the exceptions to the no-video required norm we set earlier in the session.
Following our synchronous sessions on day one, the students have two requirements in Blackboard. The requirement is to post a short biography, and to acknowledge the school’s academic integrity policy. The biographies then to be a list of unit assignments, and a recital of their resumes. I ask them to include book recommendations, and what they are currently reading. These books range from Jim Mattis’s Call Sign Chaos, to Epstein’s Range, as well as a couple of Malcolm Gladwell books. I do my best to respond to each student, which brings me to my first insight of online delivery.
When students post in a discussion board, it is paramount for a professor / instructor to ask some follow-up questions. Without active participation from the faculty, students will quickly learn the lesson that nobody is reading or caring about their thoughts and ideas.
31 March: Student Introductions and Unified Action
We begin the morning with a slew of students providing their own Who Am I? We are able to get through nine students. What is quite clear is that each student is struggling in his or her own ways to get through the COVID-19 crisis. Everyone is working from his or her home, and most are at the point in life where they have young children. For everyone, attending JCWS as an online student will require balancing schoolwork with family demands. Complicating the matter further, the connectivity of each student varies, depending on where they live.
The balance of work and family is obvious from the start. Often we can hear a dog barking, or a child playing in the background when a student speaks. One student recently changed duty stations and is taking the class while living in a hotel. Another moved a desk into a closet to have some quiet and privacy while we have our synchronous sessions. At the very least it’s a walk in closet, so he has that going for him, which is nice.
The second complication is the wide range of time zones that our students cover. We have officers living in San Diego, Omaha, Tampa, Miami, Washington D.C., Norfolk, as well as two students in Belgium and our international fellow who resides in Brazil. This forces us to consider more space for homework assignments and discussion boards, to ensure everyone has sufficient time to complete their work.
After morning introductions, our first class and synchronous discussion focuses on the ideas of unified action, unified effort, and global integration. One of my fears in the online delivery is quickly quashed. I feared a level of awkwardness in online discussions. However, the two-hour class is filled with professional and intellectual discussion from all students. To an extent, the discussion is deeper than what I normally am able to pull out of students while in residence in the classroom. I attribute this to students losing some of the fear of speaking up when physically in front of their peers. Almost like the Facebook effect, where people tend to let loose with their ideas and thoughts, but unlike Facebook conversations, the discussion in class is professional and well thought out.
The technique we use for the synchronous discussion is to have one instructor lead the conversation, while another manages the chat, or instant messaging on the side. This works well, but makes it clear that delivery of the course online demands more time from the instructors who are not normally in front of the podium in the classroom.
To close out the day, students have an online discussion forum. Comprising the discussion are two leading questions. I divide the class and have half answer one question, and the other half answer the second, however their responses to other students must occur in the other question. This forces students to think and reflect on both questions.
1 April: Service Culture and the Seven Joint Functions
Service Cultures: We start the day with a discussion of culture. I expect a short 60 minute synchronous session, but our conversation goes the full two hours. Of course, the first twenty or so minutes included a couple of Who Am I? introductions. The readings students did ahead of time include each of the services core values, and a couple of chapters of Edgar H. Schein’s book Organizational Culture and Leadership. Helping me through leading the discussion is a recent book I ready by Peter R. Mansoor titled The Culture of Military Organizations. It is paramount to understand the culture of each service, as biases and opinions of each will influence every aspect of joint planning. This my range from the doctrine we use to the courses of action we present to a commander, to the long-term strategy of a joint command. Discussing each culture and exposing our biases helps to build empathy within a joint staff.
An interesting aspect to the discussion is the facet of sub-cultures. For example, while the Army has it’s own culture, there are multiple sub-cultures. These include combat arms soldiers and combat support Soldiers. Heavy units, light units, and airborne units are another example. The Navy officers pointed out the difference between surface warfare officers (black shoe), pilots (brown shoe), and submariners. The Air Force officers acknowledged that as the second youngest service (Space Force is now the youngest), they may not have had sufficient time to form a distinctive Air Force culture. Indeed, Air Force culture may be the sum of all the various subcultures, from fighter pilots, to heavy lift pilots, to support and cyberspace officers.
Joint Functions: Another major change to the course is the material we use to discuss the joint functions. In residence, the students have access to the JCWS library, and we use the book Crusade in Europe as a historical case study. However, as the students do not have access to the physical library, we are using the Battle of Yorktown as a backdrop to discuss each of the seven joint functions (Movement and Maneuver, Intelligence, Sustainment, Command and Control, Protection, Fires, and Information).
2 April: Global Force Management and Introduction to Strategic Theory
Global Force Management. Within the seminar faculty, we do not have any experts on GFM. However, adjacent to the staff college is a section of the Joint Staff J35 who run Global Force Management. Each class we have a representative walk over and provide a lecture to the class. For the online delivery, students watch a 90-minute video of a recent talk. We then spend about 45 minutes in a synchronous session talking about various student experience with GFM. What the students understand from the get go is that there are only so many capabilities available to the joint force, and that each command has competing requirements for each capability. With that aspect, there must be a global perspective, prioritization, and assumption of risk that is greater than an individual combatant command.
Global Force Management also serves as a way to introduce students to some new vocabulary. Moving from the tactical level to the joint operational and strategic level of planning requires learning the language of joint planners. We stress to the students the meanings of the words assigned, apportioned, and allocated. Other phrases we use are the five layers (e.g. blunt) of the force within the global operating model (aka the GOM). It is a lot of jargon, but it is the language senior leaders in OSD and the joint community use on a daily basis. Further complicating this aspect is that services may have different meanings for some of these words. Apportionment for example, means one thing to an Air Force officer working in an Air Operations Center (AOC), which is quite different than the global force management definition of apportionment.
Introduction to Strategic Theory. In the seminar’s first lesson on strategy, I ask them to take a few minutes and complete the following sentence: “Strategy is…” After a couple of minutes I as the seminar to read their definition. Students had their own definition, which was a pleasing result. I then displayed various definitions by some of the leading strategic thinkers in the industry.
We talk about Art Lykke 3-legged stool concept of strategy. There are various opinions of it’s value, but we agree that the End/Ways/Means/Risk construct is how strategies at all levels come together. That is to say that we can pick up any type of strategy, from the services to joint commands and recognize the language and structure of the document.
3 April: Academic Paper, JSPS, and Ethics and the Profession of Arms
Over the past night, I created a couple extra discussion forums for the class in each of our modules. I labeled them “Water Cooler Discussion.” The purpose of these online discussion forums is for anything the students want to discuss. One of the aspects we miss in the online delivery is the offsite discussions over lunch, coffee, a beer, at the gym, or during a softball game. The first discussion in the Water Cooler forum involves Captain Crozier and the U.S.S. Roosevelt.
One of the requirements of the class that remains in place is for students to write a collaborative academically publishable paper. We start Friday off with a tour of the library. Although the physical library is unavailable to the students, they have access to the virtual library to assist them with their research.
Joint Strategic Planning System. The Joint Strategic Planning System or JSPS is a beast. Within the JSPS, the students must learn the six statutory functions of the Chairman, which are distinct from the seven joint functions. Further, the students must understand what documents are inherent within each of the Chairman’s six functions. After learning about documents such as the Unified Command Plan (UCP), the Joint Military Net Assessment (JMNA), the Global Force Management Implementation Guidance (GFMIG), and Global Campaign Plans (GCP) to name a few, students are expected to explain how each of the functions and documents work together achieve global integration. It’s not an easy task to learn or to teach. Students with CCMD and Joint Staff experience seem to grasp it faster than those who come into the course having only served at the tactical level.
Ethics and the Profession of Arms
Week 2 6-10 April
6 April: NSS, NDS, and DSCA
Reserve Forces: We begin the day with a discussion on Reserve forces. In preparation for the class, students watch a video that the in residence students normally get. We talk the composition of the National Guard and Reserves and the differences in authorities, and what it means to be State Active Duty, Title 32, or Title 10. Each comes with their own funding, their own chain of command, and their own authorities vis-à-vis posse comitatus. Unlike my last seminar where I had a reserve Army officer in the class, the composition of this class is all active duty.
Strategic Guidance: We then push on to a discussion of the 2017 National Security Strategy and the 2018 National Defense Strategy. Quickly, the discussion moves into the theoretical aspects of strategy. The students debate whether or not the United States has a true grand strategy, or if we just move along in 2 and 4 year cycles.
When talking the National Security and National Defense Strategy, we talk about some of the key ideas within each document. Primarily is the return to great power competition. Both the NSS and NDS highlight our key challenges within the 2+3 context, with Russia and China called out as our adversaries. Moreover, we talk about the primary authors of the documents, with H.R. McMaster and Nadia Schadlow as the driving force behind the NSS, and James Mattis as the force behind the NDS. What this highlights is how quickly perspectives and priorities can change, even within an administration. A national strategy is dependent upon the personality and worldview of the person writing it.
The 2017 NSS
DSCA: We make use of the afternoon synchronized session to have a discussion on Defense Support to Civil Authorities, more commonly known as DSCA. We use the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic to discuss how the Department of Defense and the military support local, state, and federal authorities in the homeland. Often, the Department finds itself in a supporting role to other agencies leading the effort such as FEMA, HHS, or the Department of Homeland Security. Critical to this supporting relationship is understanding the limits of DoD authority, especially for Title 10 or federal service which are distinct from service members in a state National Guard. There are interesting points of discussion, including the future composition of active, reserve and guard forces in light of the pandemic. Moreover, there is discussion on the ending of the 9/11 era, with it’s focus and cottage industries centered on terrorism as the main threat to America. It is a fascinating conversation and speaks to the intellect of the students in the seminar.
7 April: NMS and the UCP
One of the complications of using Office 365 and Blackboard to instruct in PME is the inability to store or share Unclassified For Official Use Only (FOUO) documents. Both the Unified Command Plan (UCP) and our Instructional National Military Strategy (the real NMS is classified Secret), are FOUO. I’m able to discuss the history, purpose, and main themes of the documents in class as part of their reading was a history of the UCP. Further, I am able to scroll through the UCP while sharing my screen view in Blackboard. Moreover, students who have CAC readers can pull up each document on official government sites. So not all of the discussion is lost. What I like to point out in the UCP is how it is the starting point for combatant commanders and their staffs to understand for what it is they are responsible. This includes their directed Area of Responsibility (AOR), and some distinct planning tasks.
The Unified Command Plan Map 6 AORs on Earth, and one AOR for USSPACECOM
To spark some intellectual discussion, I pull up some quotes from former Secretary of Defense, Bob Gates’s book Duty. In the book, Gates mentions that prior to assuming the role of SECDEF, he never took the time to read documents such as the NSS, the NDS, or other strategic guidance. Moreover, he tells the reader that he felt he didn’t lose anything by not having read them. This is a stunning revelation, as he once held the position of Director of the CIA. Just bout every student agrees that taking the time to digest each document is worth the time. And even Gates admits that once he became SECDEF, he took the time to think through and write a quality NDS to leave his mark on the department.
8 April: JSCP and Global Integration
We discuss each of these subjects, but I have nothing interesting to add. If you are a planner at the operational or strategic level, pull out the JSCP, read it, understand it, read each Global Campaign Plan, and understand them.
9 April: First Exam and First Guest Speaker
The Exam: We do not hold a class in the morning with the intent to provide specific time for the students to take the exam. Although we provide the time in the morning, the students have from 0001-2359 EST to take the test. We leave it open all day to account for the time differences that range from Europe to the American West Coast. The exam is open book, which is a change from the closed book exam that we deliver in the in residence course. I suppose we could make it a closed book exam based on the honor system. I like to think that would work, as the class is composed of senior military officers with a collective time in service of approximately 400 years. But given the circumstances, letting them look through their notes in a timed exam seems appropriate.
Guest Speaker: One aspect the online delivery leaves out is the central booking of guest speakers. The in residence class offers a variety of guest speakers to include Combatant Commanders, retired generals and admirals, most famously General Zinni, as well as a host of other experts from both the military and other government agencies. The online delivery means booking guest speakers using our own rolodex. In the afternoon, we hosted retired Colonel Scott Kendrick, who was the lead author of the Joint Concept for Integrated Campaigning, and is leading the writing team for the next iteration of Joint Publication 3-0, Joint Operations. He is also the author of Vice Versa, a terrific article published by the Modern War Institute. The discussion on the future of campaigning through competition was particularly timely, as the next module of the course is three weeks of strategic campaign design. One point that we talked about is how we tend to judge our enemies and adversaries. The terms “rational and irrational actor” came up. We talked about the difference between miscalculation and acting irrationally, and tended to agree that foreign leaders are most likely rational, but tend to miscalculate in international relations. The students in the seminar were engaged throughout the discussion, and I have booked some follow-on speakers throughout the next eight weeks. They serve as a means to break up the daily routine while scratching the intellectual itch.
10 April: Elements of Operational Design
Joint publication 5-0, Joint Planning lists 13 elements of operational design. We again use the backdrop of the Battle of Yorktown to tease out each of the elements. What further drives discussion are remnants of yesterday’s guest speaker. We concede that the current paradigm of operational design works quite well for force on force conflict, or major military operations. However, there seems to be consensus that the current doctrine is not complete for day-to-day campaigning through competition with stated adversaries such as Russia and China.
My fellow instructor leading the discussion holds a PHD, and wrote his dissertation on the Battle of Yorktown. It’s a nice capabilities to have in the seminar, and builds more into the discussion and analysis. I make only one point at the end of the class, that it wasn’t until the Americans were able to fight as a combined (with the French) and joint (land and maritime) force, that they were able to decisively beat the British. It brings home the importance of JCWS, and the necessity of our allied and partners, many of whom send students through our class.
At the end of the discussion for the day, I offer an open invitation to any students who reside in the greater Norfolk and Hampton Roads area to accompany my seminar on the Yorktown staff ride during the next in residence course. It is truly one of the better days in the class, combining a day outside of the classroom with the sights of the birthplace of America.
Reflection on the first two weeks
Rapidly moving from an early graduation of our last class to delivering JCWS curriculum on line in lieu of our normal face-to-face in residence delivery has provided multiple lessons. These lessons include an appreciation of the time and effort required for online instruction and ideas that I can adopt for use both in online delivery and in our residence course.
Online instruction takes time. It takes time to prepare for the class, it takes time to deliver the class, and it takes time to reflect on the class. For preparation, I geared towards the use of scripts for the delivery of course work. While off moments of silence come off as natural in the classroom, the silence is uncomfortable when you can’t look around and see student’s physical reactions. This uncomfortable silence pushed me to fill dead time with scripted thoughts, ideas, and leading questions. While I prepare in a similar manner for face-to-face delivery, I now have the script sitting directly in front of me.
A second aspect of time is that the synchronous sessions that we provide the students require at least two faculty for each class. One faculty member leading the discussion, and a second to monitor the sidebar chat room to answer any questions that arise. Moreover, there is always the risk of one instructor losing communications in the middle of a lesson, forcing the second faculty member assume his duties. In residence, there are times when only one faculty member is necessary, and the other two members of the seminar team can use the time to prepare for their classes, conduct academic research and writing, or take an hour for physical fitness.
The third aspect of time is following the class. Each of us has offered our numbers and email to each of the students to reach out at any time. The students in the online delivery have more writing assignments that include online discussion boards. The discussion boards need instructor participation to guide the conversation, and to ensure the students understand that we do care about their thoughts and ideas on the topic. The workday often ends late at night.