The mission of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF) is to prepare selected military officers and civilians for senior leadership and staff positions by conducting postgraduate, executive-level courses of study and associated research dealing with the resource component of national power, with special emphasis on materiel acquisition and joint logistics, and their integration into national security strategy for peace and war. Reflecting this joint and interagency perspective, 67 percent of the student body is composed of military representatives from the land, sea and air Services, 25 percent from the Departments of Defense and State and 10 other federal agencies, 7 percent international military officers, and 1 percent from the private sector. ICAF awards its graduates a Master of Science degree in National Resource Strategy. In addition, at the direction of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology [USD (A&T)], ICAF serves as the course provider for the Senior Acquisition Course directed by the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act. In this capacity, ICAF acts as a consortium college of the Defense Acquisition University (DAU). Both the USD (A&T) and DAU provide oversight of the Senior Acquisition Course to ensure its relevance to acquisition personnel as the highest level acquisition course in the Department of Defense.

The Commandant of ICAF is a two-star general or flag officer appointed by the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and responsible to the President of the National Defense University. As a joint sponsor of the ICAF, the Department of State nominates a Foreign Service officer with ambassadorial rank to serve as the Commandantís International Adviser. The Dean of Faculty and Academic Programs is responsible for all matters related to faculty, teaching, professional development, curriculum planning and scheduling, and faculty and student research. The Dean of Students and Administration coordinates student activities and responsibilities, provides administrative and logistics support to the College and provides liaison with counterpart offices of the National Defense University.

 

The faculty is composed of permanent Department of the Army civilian academicians, active duty military from all Services, and visiting senior civilians from diverse federal government agencies. Civilian faculty members are academic specialists or are practitioners selected from nominations by their respective agencies. Military faculty members normally hold the rank of Colonel/Captain and are specialists in their fields.