This study examined the curriculum evolution process of the
Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF) and its predecessor, the
Army Industrial College (AIC), as it was influenced by a variety of
factors between the years 1924 and 1988. Most of the published
material used for this study was found in the library of the National
Defense University, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, DC.
Additionally, current and past College faculty and staff members were
interviewed.
Six main questions served to guide and focus inquiry for this
study. These questions concerned how the curriculum evolution process
was affected by (1) various influential persons, (2) recommendations of
commissions and boards, (3) social, economic, and political phenomena,
(4) military and civilian faculty, (5) educational philosophy, and (6)
technological advances.
Using the historical method, the study identified five distinct
periods in ICAF's curriculum history: 1924-1941, during which AIC's
original curriculum sought to forestall a recurrence of industrial
mobilization problems; 1943-1964, which saw the emergence of economic
mobilization as the overarching curriculum theme; 1964-1975, a time
when a strong leader completely restructured the curriculum theme to
emphasize management and active learning; 1975-1984, a period when NDU
was created as the joint college umbrella, applied behavioral science
was introduced, and the curriculum theme returned to mobilization; and
1984-1988, during which the conceptual frameworks of joint and combined
warfare and the systems approach guided the continuing search for
academic excellence and rigor.
The study found that each of the potential change agents affected
the way the curriculum evolved. However, the most influential factor
was the occasional person who interpreted the significance of a
multiplicity or phenomena in an innovative fashion, and consciously
chose to restructure curriculum. Commandant, Lieutenant General August
Schomburg and Dean of Faculty and Academics, Colonel Barry M. Landson,
were the two most effective individuals in this regard. Consequently,
the study concluded that, for the most part, curriculum planning was
not an orderly, systematic, and analytical process. Generally,
curriculum change was found to be incremental and often based on which
subjects received greatest media attention or the relative
argumentative forcefulness of proponents.
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