NSDM is offered either as an independent directed study, a daytime classroom format two course series or a nonresident seminar course. The independent directed study and daytime classroom format courses require six months to complete while the nonresident seminar requires nine months to complete. The Joint Maritime Operations curriculum develops the ability to translate contemporary national and regional military strategies into naval, joint, and multinational operations, with particular emphasis on the operational art and employment of the Sea Services. Thus, it enables officers to make sound operational decisions in both command and staff positions. JMO is an executive development course that emphasizes planning and decision-making factors at the joint task force level for operations in the maritime environment.
Operational problems require military officers to make increasing use of many disciplines.
This differs from the past where application of a single discrete discipline was more often the norm. Officers must have a firm grasp of military strategy, an understanding of joint and combined operations, and a thorough background in the essential elements of the military planning and decision-making process to deploy, employ and sustain U.S. military forces efficiently and successfully. JMO applies these ideas to military problems requiring decisions in dynamic situations. The integrating themes of the course are joint maritime operations, the operational level of war, and military decision-making. Emphasis is placed on the ability to identify the military conditions required to achieve strategic goals, the required sequence of actions, resources and associated costs or risks in that process.