MN4012 Maneuver Warfare for the Mind: The Art and Science of Interdisciplinary Learning for Innovation and Warfighting Leaders

Brief Course Description/Abstract

This course is about thinking, learning, and leading in the context of US Navy and US Marine Corps history, emerging naval warfighting concepts, interdisciplinary thinking and learning and tactical decision making in the post-industrial era. The course is interdisciplinary and integrative and focuses on understanding, contextualizing, developing, and integrating the ideas of John Boyd and other leaders, especially as it relates to maneuver warfare, as a means to cultivate learning leaders who can build and lead learning organizations; develop more effective integrative learning with regard to concepts, research, and experimentation for warfighters and warfighting – themes central to supporting the implementation and future development of MCPD-7, the 38^th CMC’s Planning Guidance, the NDS, and other key strategic documents.

In particular, the course will focus on understanding and applying the central ideas and intellectual foundations of maneuver warfare. Maneuver Warfare is central to emerging naval operating concepts such as DMO and EABO, it is critical for understanding the forces that shape the future security environment, and it provides tenets for developing thinking and learning leaders. In doing so, the course will build understanding and support for current service-level change by using the ideas in (and underlying) FMFM-1 “Warfighting" and then understanding and applying maneuver warfare as an approach to leading organizational change in both USMC, Navy, and beyond. It will also support central ideas in MCDP-7 “learning” and explicate additional insights from literature on thinking, learning, and leadership and discuss their implications for warfighting leaders.

(Open to both resident and DL students.)

Prerequisite

none

Lecture Hours

4

Lab Hours

0

Course Learning Outcomes

• Students will develop knowledge of key perspectives, theories, frameworks, and ideas on learning and thinking relevant to advancing warfighter concepts and leading warfighting organizations.
• Students will be knowledgeable of key approaches to creative thinking and the development of lifelong learners and how that is central to warfighters.
• Students will be able to apply the ideas to improving ongoing learning for warfighters and warfighting organizations (so as to help shape their own organizations through improved individual as well as organizational learning).