Just six duty days into the 10-day Warfighter’s Arctic Foundations Course (WAFC), more than half of the participants have already fully completed the assessments for all five content modules. Participants of the course have reached out to staff with overwhelmingly positive reviews.
“The inaugural launch of the WAFC course has achieved phenomenal success, with over 50% of participants completing all five modules within the first six duty days,” said Dr. Cody Dees, TSC Professor of International Security who designed the WAFC. “This milestone demonstrates the TSC’s capability to deliver high-level, asynchronous education that allows warfighters to balance critical thinking with operational mission requirements.”
Support staff and proctors have received a steady influx of direct emails praising the course’s composition, depth, organization, and format. Crucially, this feedback comes from established military personnel—professionals with rigorous duties, informed expectations, and a clear understanding of what they need from professional military education.
The TSC is currently leading the sector in digital course delivery by introducing an entirely self-paced, asynchronous educational model: novel achievement for Department of War education.
While legacy Computer Based Trainings (CBTs) have existed for decades, they fundamentally differ from this initiative:
- Training (CBTs): Focuses on Stimulus = Response (prescribing exactly what to do and how to do it).
- Education (WAFC): Focuses on Engagement -> Critical Thinking -> Application.
“Fostering critical thinking in a fully self-paced setting is notoriously difficult. The resoundingly positive feedback from the operational, tactical, and strategic levels proves that WAFC is successfully bridging this gap, delivering far more than a standard introductory course,” said Dr. Dees.
Participants across diverse sectors; including professional researchers, medical personnel, and mobility command have reported significant impacts.
“I’ve been working my way through the online course… It’s a truly excellent primer on the region, and the structure is incredibly engaging,” said operational-level participant.”
“Just want to thank you for putting the course together. I will absolutely recommend it to my co-workers… I would love to see more asynchronous course opportunities from TSC in the future about different subjects/more depth on all subjects covered,” wrote a strategical-level participant.
The internally developed TSC content has proven so robust that participants have noted it significantly outshines third-party supplementary materials. Beyond the fulfilling praise, this launch validates a scalable educational process. The TSC has proven it can support nearly 100 participants with only one proctor and two support staff; while those staff members continue to manage other roles and projects. This efficiency means the TSC is one of the few institutions capable of reaching security practitioners exactly where they are—without forcing them to choose between their education and their mission.
By pioneering simultaneous, asynchronous course delivery without overloading staff, the TSC is innovating ahead of the field and meaningfully supporting our warfighters, allies, and partners.