IWC Launches Its First Course on Irregular Warfare Approaches for IW Campaigning

Story by: Paul Burton, Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired), IWC Ctr.

ARLINGTON, VA — The Department of War Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) announced its newest online course, Irregular Warfare (IW) 301: IW Campaign Planning, available as of May 2026 for Irregular Warfare professionals. Irregular Warfare (IW) challenges frequently span national boundaries and require coordinated strategies among U.S. government agencies, as well as allied and partner nations. Toward this end, IW-301 is built to educate practitioners on the form, functions, and features of IW campaigning, with a focus on the development of a regionally based, integrated interagency IW campaign plan. This course reviews and expands on key concepts from baseline IWC online courses and includes detailed IW perspectives on interagency, cross-government planning, operational design, and the principles of IW campaigning.

“The IWC is delivering measurable results in IW curricula and offerings as well as enterprise-wide education outreach through our widely available online courses that include IW101, 105, 110, and 201 — which have reached over 4,800 enrollments,” said Dr. Jeff Gardner, IWC Chief of Curriculum and Senior Faculty. “Our web-based courses significantly expand the IWC's reach and have been adopted across numerous military and civilian institutions. IW301 is our newest and most ambitious course where the course aim is to develop practitioners capable of contributing to the design of integrated interagency IW campaign plans.”

The IWC emphasized the enhancement of the course experience with interactive courseware that integrates text, graphics, video, and other media to enhance learning and encourage participants’ engagement. The course focuses on identifying the principles of interagency cooperation and the IW-related roles of U.S. government departments and agencies, analyze a strategic situation containing IW-related challenges and opportunities, and plan the employment of IW activities during competition with an integrated interagency IW campaign plan. As a part of the course, students will be provided with an IW campaign plan template as well as an example of a completed IW campaign plan. Participants will then get to “choose your own adventure” and select from one of three different current IW threat scenarios to develop their own integrated interagency IW campaign plan.

The time needed to complete IW-301 will vary greatly depending on students’ existing knowledge and practical experience with IW concepts in the global operating environment, and individual effort and level of detail put into the development of the integrated interagency IW campaign plan submission. The course is estimated to take between 8–16 hours to complete, with participants receiving a certificate for 12 hours of learning credit.

“This course capitalizes on the IWC educational successes with the introductory IW101 course and advanced IW201 course. This latest IWC course is specifically designed for IW practitioners and professionals in the Department of War and interagency partners at the federal, state, and local levels. However, as an unclassified resource, it is also open to anyone interested in understanding how irregular warfare approaches can be employed to counter adversaries in competition,” said Gardner.

Additionally, there will be a three-day resident course, IW401, that expands on topics covered in IW301 and introduces some new approaches to campaign design. The pilot course for IW401 is set for 18-20 August 2026 at the Joint Special Operations University at McDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla. Once the IW301course is completed, those interested can register for the IW401 course by visiting the IWC website at https://irregularwarfarecenter.org/education/

IW301 directly advances the strategic objectives outlined in the 2020 National Defense Strategy IW Annex to institutionalize and operationalize IW as a core competency for the U.S. military, as well as fulfill the IWC’s congressionally-mandated mission in Title 10 §345 “to serve as a central mechanism for developing the irregular warfare knowledge of the Department of War and advancing the understanding of irregular warfare concepts and doctrine” and “coordinating and aligning Department education curricula, standards, and objectives related to irregular warfare."

For Irregular Warfare 301 course registration visit: https://irregularwarfarecenter.org/education/irregular-warfare-301/

For more news and information about the IWC and its course visit: https://irregularwarfarecenter.org/

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