• Skills - enhanced powers of analysis that can be sustained under pressure; improved ability to handle detail and complexity; developed powers of communication, both oral and written.
• Knowledge and Understanding - increased knowledge and understanding of Defence, and of Land business in particular, set within historical, global geo-political, and wider Government/Defence context. 
• Motivation - reinvigorated interest in the Army or Royal Marines as a profession of first choice by reflecting what is best about the Army and Royal Marine way of life in the course ethos.

Term 1 - Foundation Studies

Aim - To enhance core skills and to develop a fundamental understanding of the higher levels of Defence, in order to ensure a common understanding of the context, drivers and considerations that underpin Defence activity.

• Analysis and Communications.  The course opens with 3 days spent introducing the students to analysis techniques and communication skills; both written and oral.  Skills are practiced in a variety of military and other scenarios.  Students build on this foundation throughout the remainder of the course.
• Strategy & UK Worldview.  Classical strategic thought is studied and related to contemporary problems. The causes of war, including a wider understanding of what constitutes security and the use of force are also examined.  Civil-military relations, the role of the MOD as a department of state and as a military headquarters, and the moral and legal dimensions of war are assessed.  British foreign, economic and defence policies are examined along with the key international influences on them.  The military lever of power is examined more closely by studying how the UK arrives at military options through the Defence Crisis Management Organisation. Students are also introduced to the higher management of Defence.  The study concludes by a study of a key region of the world through the lens of the UK’s levers of power.
• Command & Leadership Responsibilities.  This stage allows students to explore the challenges of leadership both in peace and on operations including man management, ethics, morality and operational law.  It establishes the theory and encourages further study throughout the remainder of the Course and beyond.  The ‘Command and Leadership’ theme endures throughout the Course with a number of periods assigned for reflection on issues of command and leadership in particular circumstances and environments.
• Management of Defence.   The strategic management of Defence including the planning process, resourcing Defence and the tools and techniques used to measure and improve performance are studied in detail.  The study concludes with an analysis of change management.
• Acquisition and Defence Project Management.  The Acquisition CADMID Cycle and project management techniques are studied in depth.
• Introduction to Joint Operations.  This stage introduces joint operations in order to place the study of land tactical operations during Phase 2 in context.  Air, maritime, logistics and SF component operations and their interaction are studied.  The operational art and campaign planning concepts are examined along with operational enablers such as non-kinetic effects and intelligence.
• Equipment Capability.  The impact of science and technology on Defence Capability is studied with specific emphasis on CBM, ISTAR, Lethality, Survivability, Mobility, CBRN and Systems Integration.

Term 2 -Operations

Aim - to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the military planning process and the exploitation of Defence Capability at the tactical level, applying it in broad terms to the conduct of brigade operations across the spectrum of conflict and within a continuum of operations, in order to develop students’ leadership, communication and analytical skills as commanders and staff.

• Foundation to Operations.  This stage delivers a comprehensive understanding of the doctrine, capabilities and application of combat power at battle group, brigade and divisional levels of command.  Students also examine air/land integration, battle management and air manoeuvre.  In addition, the doctrine, ORBAT and tactics of generic Enemy Forces are covered.
• Operational Planning.  Using the latest doctrine, students develop a thorough knowledge of the decision-making process focusing on the combat estimate process, the development of the plan and the delivery of detailed orders.  Students also cover movement planning and all the staff outputs of the estimate process.
• Preparation for Operations.  The provision of trained and equipped forces, at graduated states of readiness and their deployment, recovery and sustainment are examined.
• Warfighting Operations.  Specifically, students develop a thorough understanding of brigade level war-fighting operations, set within a divisional context, in a complex and fast evolving scenario.
• COIN, Counter-terrorism and UK Operations.  This stage develops a wider understanding of the complexity of COIN operations, the demands of countering global terrorism and UK operations in support of Op RESILIENCE.
• Conflict Resolution.  The policy, organisation and mechanisms and the practice involved in conflict prevention, resolution, security sector reform and reconstruction in the pursuance of international peace and security are introduced.
• Irregular Operations.  Students practise the conduct of COIN, PSO and post-conflict operations in an exercise scenario.
• The Operating Environment.  Students gain direct experience of the operating environment through study of operations on the ground during a European Staff Ride at Arnhem and Nijmegan.
• Command & Leadership Responsibilities (Part B).  This stage rounds off the study of C&LR throughout the course.  Students’ personal study of leadership is drawn together and discussed, and AG’s department leads on a section designed to provide students with the most current material available on personnel management prior to returning to field army appointments.