---
kind: "section"
citation: "10 U.S.C. § 2155"
title: "10"
title_heading: "Armed Forces"
number: "2155"
heading: "Joint professional military education Phase II program of instruction"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/10/2155"
units:
  - "Subtitle A — General Military Law"
  - "Part III — Training and Education"
  - "Chapter 107 — Professional Military Education"
---

# §2155. Joint professional military education Phase II program of instruction

- (a) **Prerequisite of Completion of Joint Professional Military Education Phase I Program of Instruction.—**
  - (1) After September 30, 2009, an [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) of the [armed forces](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-4) may not be accepted for, or assigned to, a [program](/usc/10/2101.md?p=1) of instruction designated by the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) of Defense as joint professional [military](/usc/10/801.md?p=8) education Phase II unless the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) has successfully completed a [program](/usc/10/2101.md?p=1) of instruction designated by the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) of Defense as joint professional [military](/usc/10/801.md?p=8) education Phase I.
  - (2) The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff may grant exceptions to the requirement under [paragraph (1)](#a-1). Such an exception may be granted only on a case-by-case basis under exceptional circumstances, as determined by the Chairman. An [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) selected to receive such an exception shall have knowledge of [joint matters](/usc/10/668.md?p=a-1) and other aspects of the Phase I curriculum that, to the satisfaction of the Chairman, qualifies the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) to meet the minimum requirements established for entry into Phase II instruction without first completing Phase I instruction. The number of [officers](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) selected to attend an offering of the principal course of instruction at the Joint Forces Staff College or a [senior level service school](/usc/10/2151.md?p=b-1) designated by the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) of Defense as a joint professional [military](/usc/10/801.md?p=8) education institution who have not completed Phase I instruction should comprise no more than 10 percent of the total number of [officers](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) selected.
- (b) **Phase II Requirements.—** The [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) shall require that the curriculum for Phase II joint professional [military](/usc/10/801.md?p=8) education at any school—
  - (1) focus on developing joint operational expertise and perspectives and honing joint warfighting skills; and
  - (2) be structured—
    - (A) so as to adequately prepare students to perform effectively in an assignment to a joint, multiservice organization; and
    - (B) so that students progress from a basic knowledge of [joint matters](/usc/10/668.md?p=a-1) learned in Phase I instruction to the level of expertise necessary for successful performance in the joint arena.
- (c) **Curriculum Content.—** In addition to the subjects specified in [section 2151(a) of this title](/usc/10/2151.md?p=a), the curriculum for Phase II joint professional [military](/usc/10/801.md?p=8) education shall include the following:
  - (1) [National security](/usc/10/801.md?p=16) strategy.
  - (2) Theater strategy and campaigning.
  - (3) Joint planning processes and systems.
  - (4) Joint, interagency, and multinational capabilities and the integration of those capabilities.
- (d) **Student Ratio; Faculty Ratio.—** Not later than September 30, 2009, for courses of instruction in a Phase II [program](/usc/10/2101.md?p=1) of instruction that is offered at [senior level service school](/usc/10/2151.md?p=b-1) that has been designated by the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) of Defense as a joint professional [military](/usc/10/801.md?p=8) education institution—
  - (1) the percentage of students enrolled in any such course who are [officers](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) of the armed force that administers the school may not exceed 60 percent, with the remaining services proportionally represented; and
  - (2) of the faculty at the school who are active-duty [officers](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) who provide instruction in such courses, the percentage who are [officers](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) of the armed force that administers the school may not exceed 60 percent, with the remaining services proportionally represented.

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 108–375, div. A, title V, § 532(a)(2), Oct. 28, 2004, 118 Stat. 1898; amended Pub. L. 109–364, div. A, title X, § 1071(a)(13), (14), Oct. 17, 2006, 120 Stat. 2399.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2006—Pub. L. 109–364, § 1071(a)(13), substituted “Phase” for “phase” in section catchline.

Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–364, § 1071(a)(14), inserted “Phase” after “Education” in heading.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Pilot Program on JPME Phase II on Other Than In-Residence Basis

Pub. L. 112–81, div. A, title V, § 552(b), Dec. 31, 2011, 125 Stat. 1412, authorized the Secretary of Defense to carry out a pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability of offering a program of instruction under this section on an other than in-residence basis and provided that the authority for the program would expire five years after Dec. 31, 2011.