Announcement of the Academic Year (AY) 2026-2027 Joint & Combined Warfighting School (JCWS) Seat Quotas

1.  Situation.  The Marine Corps is required to
designate a sufficient number of quality officers to be a Joint
Qualified Officer (JQO) and Joint Professional Military Education
(JPME) is required to become a JQO. The Joint Forces Staff College
(JFSC) offers JPME through their Joint & Combined Warfighting School
(JCWS) 10-week resident curriculum and a 40-week Hybrid curriculum,
which is split up into three phases.
2.  Mission.  Provide qualified officers in the grades of O-4 to O-6
and staff noncommissioned officers in the grades of E-7 to E-9 the
opportunity to attend JCWS in order to increase joint qualification
eligibility, meet service talent management requirements, and to
ensure commands are staffed with officers who can lead joint
planning efforts, integrate the creativity of operational art with
the analytical and logical process of operational design, and be
proficient with the Joint Planning Process as the application
framework to develop theater strategies and operational plans.
3.  Execution
3.a.  Dates and allocations for AY 2026-2027 courses are (read in
five columns):
Course  Submission Deadline    Report       Graduation   Allocations
27-1    10 Nov 26              10 Jan 27    19 Mar 27    12
27-2    28 Jan 26              28 Mar 27    04 Jun 27    12
27-3    20 Apr 26              20 Jun 27    27 Aug 27    12
27-4    12 Jul 26              12 Sep 27    19 Nov 27    12
3.a.1  Dates for the AY 2026-2027 JCWS-Hybrid are as follows (read
in five columns):
Course  Submission Deadline   Week 0      Start Date    Graduation        
27-1    30 Oct 26             30 Nov 26   07 Dec 26     24 Sep 27  
27-2    04 Dec 26             04 Jan 27   11 Jan 27     15 Oct 27     
27-3    21 Dec 26             25 Jan 27   01 Feb 27     05 Nov 27   
3.a.2  Dates for Hybrid face-to-face (F2F) are as follows (read in
three columns):
Course    F2F-1               F2F-2
27-1      26-30 Apr 27        13-24 Sep 27
27-2      17-21 May 27        04-15 Oct 27
27-3      07-11 Jun 27        25 Oct - 05 Nov 27
3.b.  Major subordinate commands may nominate Marines in the grade
of E-7/E-8/E-9/O-4/O-5/O-6 to attend the course in accordance with
the above allocations.  JCWS Hybrid Courses have one active duty
allocation per course.  At this time, HQMC is only allowing officers
in the grades of O-5 and O-6 attend the Hybrid Courses.
3.c.  Course prerequisites (Officer and Enlisted)
3.c.1.  An active secret clearance, validated in the Defense
Information Security System is required.  Marines who do not possess
an active security clearance will not be accepted into the course
due to the classification of several classes.
3.c.2.  Must be in compliance with both body composition and
physical fitness standards.
3.d.  Officer nominees must have completed JPME I credit from an
accredited intermediate service school.  Marines that have not
completed JPME I will require a Direct Entry Waiver.  Direct Entry
Waivers will be submitted to the Joint Staff J-7 for final approval.
Only 10 percent are allowed per course.  Officers on Direct Entry
Waiver must complete the preparatory Joint Transition Course (JTC)
the week prior to JCWS start date at JFSC in Norfolk, VA.
3.e.  Senior enlisted prerequisites (only applies to senior
enlisted).
3.e.1  Senior enlisted nominees should be in the functional area
consistent with joint planning groups (occupational specialties
operations, intelligence, communications, or logistics).
3.e.2.  Bachelors degree (accredited).
3.e.3.  Service Professional Military Education (PME) complete for
pay grade.
3.e.4.  Senior Enlisted Joint Professional Military Education
(SEJPME) Course (distance education course offered by JKO)
completed.
3.e.5.  Attend JTC one week prior to JCWS at JFSC in Norfolk, VA.
JTC may be waived with completion of both SEJPME I and SEJPME II.
4.  Administration and Logistics
4.a.  Senior enlisted personnel must submit a nomination package
that includes the following:
4.a.1.  Nomination letter from the first Flag/General Officer or SES
in their chain-of-command.
4.a.2.  A one-page student biography or resume to include education
and career history.
4.a.3.  An undergraduate transcript and a copy of the SEJPME course
completion certificate or JPME I certificate from an Intermediate
Service School.
4.a.4.  Nomination package must be submitted 90 days prior to class
date to the JFSC's Dean of Academic Affairs.
4.a.5.  Joint Officer Matters will forward nomination packages to
the Executive Admin, Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman, Joint
Chiefs of Staff for final endorsement before it is sent to the JFSC
for enrollment.  Final admissions authority rests with the JFSC
Commandant.
4.a.6.  Forward required nominee information, identified above, to
the joint matters email account at smb_jointmatters_active@usmc.mil.
4.b.  All officer applications must be submitted to the Joint
Officer Matters Office, MMOA no later than 60 days prior to the
course convene date.
4.c.  All senior enlisted nominations must be received by the Joint
Officer Matters Office, MMOA no later than 120 days prior to the
course convene date.
4.d.  Students registered in the Marine Corps Training Information
Management System (MCTIMS) who cannot attend a scheduled course must
have their registration canceled within MCTIMS.
4.e.  Appropriation data.  Funding will be provided by the student's
command.
4.f.  Prior to arriving, students must read and become familiar with 
all pre-requisites directed by the JFSC.
5.  Command and Signal.  Additional information is available on the
MMOA-3 website at https:(slash)(slash)www.manpower.marines.mil/
Divisions/Manpower-Management/Officer-Assignments.
6.  This MARADMIN is not applicable to the Marine Corps Reserve.
7.  The POC for JPME courses with the Reserves may be reached at
smb_jointmatters_reserves@usmc.mil.
8.  Release authorized by MajGen Fridrik Fridriksson, Director,
Manpower Management Division.