MONTEREY — Monterey’s Naval Postgraduate School is investing in upgrades to facilities and classrooms as part of a broader U.S. Navy education initiative aimed at creating a smarter, better informed group of sailors and Marines.
The exact amount of investment was not disclosed, but retired Vice Adm. Ann Rondeau, NPS president, said the Navy’s just released Education for Seapower Strategy will require investment in the 111-year-old graduate research school.
“Some initial funding has been targeted to support immediate laboratory recapitalization needs,” Rondeau said. “And we are exploring the feasibility of a broader, more comprehensive investment in our campus.”
The Navy wants to create a naval community college to provide associate degrees to tens of thousands of young sailors and Marines, at no cost to them. It plans to unify the schools within the existing naval university system, similar to a state university system, and invest in them, as well as enact new policies to encourage and reward those who pursue professional military and civilian education.
The new strategy is the first unified, comprehensive education strategy for both the Navy and Marine Corps, said John Kroger, the Navy’s first chief learning officer. The plans are in response to shifting geopolitical realities he said.
“In a world where potential adversaries are peers economically and technologically, how do you win?” Kroger said. “We think we can out-fight potential opponents because we can out-think them. In order to do that, we must have, by far, the best military education program in the world.”
China is a clear example of a trading partner that is also a military adversary, and a nation that is making investments in 5G networks, energy storage and other major technologies that matter for warfighting, he said.
Rondeau said the new strategy will expand the Naval personnel’s ability to master new and emerging technologies.
“That’s not possible without also improving our financial management, logistics, information technology and acquisition systems, which are core areas of faculty expertise here at NPS.”
About $109 million was transferred from other Navy programs this fiscal year to pay for immediate education needs, including startup costs for the community college.
The Navy will ask Congress for more money for education beginning in fiscal year 2022, but the numbers aren’t finalized, Kroger said. He estimated it will cost $40 million to $50 million annually for the community college to educate about 40,000 people each year.
The revamped education model will provide additional skills the Navy values, Rondeau said.
“The strategy is about continuous learning, informed decisions, intelligent inquiry and developing the cognitive ability to see through the fog of complex situations and act decisively,” she said. “We create the Naval leaders of tomorrow through interdisciplinary curricula and applied research that leverages students’ operational proficiency to solve key problems.”
There would not be a physical community college campus, Kroger said. Some general education classes would be provided online, but sailors and Marines would do the vast majority of their coursework online through civilian universities and community colleges that partner with the Navy.
The Navy plans to seek approval from Congress this year and enroll the first students next year.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
