The Marine Corps War College Strategy Primer

The vision of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for professional military education is clear: the Marine Corps War College (MCWAR) needs to help prepare Joint leaders, senior staff officers, and strategists to "execute and adapt strategy through campaigns and operations" and "conduct joint warfighting at the operational to strategic levels."1 To achieve this, MCWAR students must first grapple with the fundamentals of national security strategy and grand strategy formulation before delving into the complexities of military strategy.This is the purpose of The Marine Corps War College Strategy Primer. It not only provides students an overview of the elements of strategic logic but also introduces a cognitive model for developing and assessing strategy by leveraging innovative design methodologies and other critical and creative thinking approaches. In short, this primer aids in forging strategically minded warfighters who understand how the military instrument fits within a whole-of-government strategy. Only then can MCWAR's historical case studies effectively teach the art and science of the "strategy bridge," nesting military options in support of policy ends in shared pursuit of a better peace.Creating workable strategic approaches to the most intractable problems of the world is an intellectual exercise on par with the most difficult of all human endeavors. Empires and nations rise and fall with their strategic choices. MCWAR students will bear such a burden in the coming years as they face unprecedented rates of change in warfare, as well as the storm clouds of great power competition. The MCWAR strategy primer and succeeding curriculum is only the first step in preparing the next cadre of strategists-one that must be reinforced by a lifetime of study.