College of International Security Affairs- Ft. McNair
Washington, D.C.
The College of International Security Affairs (CISA) at Ft. McNair offers a rigorous 10-month Joint Professional Military Education II (JPME II) Master’s degree program in Washington, D.C. The curriculum provides in-depth study of irregular warfare across all instruments of national power, with focus areas including strategic competition,
counterterrorism, and global security challenges. CISA equips future leaders of the U.S. Armed Forces, civilian agencies, and international partners for senior leadership roles in today’s complex security environment.
Born out of 9/11, this program treats terrorism as but one tactic inherent to irregular warfare: a violent struggle among state and/or non-state actors to influence populations or affect legitimacy. Through this focus on irregular warfare, our focus—and that of our students—has been on insurgency, criminal actors, networks of radicalization, state use of hybrid and political warfare, and various hybrids of all of these.
To complement their academic coursework, students take part in a practicum where they visit government agencies and combatant commands to gain a better understanding of U.S. national security at the strategic level. Upon graduation, they join an active alumni network of over 1,900 irregular warfare practitioners across the globe.
The College of International Security Affairs- Ft. Bragg
Fort Bragg, N.C.
The Joint Special Operations Master of Arts (JSOMA) program was created in 2010, at the request of the US Army Special Operations Command, to help prepare the operational force for the uncertain and dynamic global security environment. This Master’s degree is delivered to qualified officers, warrant officers, and NCOs of US Special Operations Forces (any Service) by an interdepartmental team of CISA professors deployed at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (JFKSWCS) at Fort Bragg, N.C. Over a ten-month period, students attend classes full-time to complete this rigorous graduate program leading to a Master of Arts in Strategic Security Studies (MASSS).
JSOMA offers a unique combination of a rigorous academic environment on par with top-tier civilian graduate programs and close working relationships with the Special Operations educational and operational communities at Fort Bragg, offering SOF students an unparalleled educational experience-grounded in the realities of the complex security environment in which they operate. An inclusive student body comprised of seasoned Joint Special Operators of all ranks, including interagency, allied, and partner-nation students, adds to this unique learning environment.
The JSOMA curriculum offers a strategic-level perspective on the global threat environment, including the rise of newly empowered and politicized ideological movements; the relationships between political objectives, strategy, and all instruments of national power; and the roles of power and ideology. Through seminar participation, independent study and research, and a combination of both theoretical and empirical coursework, students will develop strategies for addressing the emerging threat environment in combination with other agencies and partner nations, for developing and implementing national and international security strategies in peace, crisis, and war. For more information about the JSOMA program, click here.