The Defence Studies Department (DSD)
The Defence Studies Department (DSD) was created in 1997 as an integral part of the UK
Joint Services Command and Staff College (JSCSC), which provides command and staff training at single-service, advanced and higher levels for the three Armed Services of the United Kingdom to a world class standard.
Initially based at the Royal Air Force (RAF) Staff College at Bracknell, the College relocated in 2000 to its current home at Shrivenham, between Swindon and Oxford, into a modern purpose-built building offering training and educational facilities which are the most advanced of any Staff College in the world. It was at this juncture, when King’s took over full responsibility for academic support to military command and staff training, that the Department was formally integrated into the War Studies Group.
DSD now comprises over 50 academics with a wide range of expertise across the field of defence and security studies, engaged in the through-career delivery of education and training at the JSCSC and the London-based Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS), both of which form part of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom.
DSD aims to enhance understanding of defence and international issues through the provision of programmes of study informed by research and postgraduate accreditation. DSD staff also provide expert advice and academic leadership on study-tours to battlefields, and wider policy advice to the Ministry of Defence as part of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. Through this we contribute to the reputation of the Defence Academy as a world class centre of excellence, achieved through a unique academic-military partnership at all levels of course design, development, delivery and validation.