About NCDS Ghana

The Ghana Armed Forces established the National College of Defence Studies (NCDS) in March 2023 to offer Strategic Courses for senior military officers of the rank of colonels or equivalent and relevant national agencies of the same status. This is based on the directive of the President of the Republic of Ghana, pursuant to section 29(1) of the Education Regulatory Bodies Act 2020 (Act 1023).

The College is a Tri-Service Institution that imparts skills in strategic leadership, contemporary management thought, concepts and practices, that lead to effective decision-making, enlightened leadership and efficient resource management in a knowledge-centric environment to the senior leadership of the Armed Forces and relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as international participants at the Conceptual, Directional and Functional levels.

For a long time, the Ghana Armed Forces relied on Foreign Defence and War Colleges to train its strategic level officers. Due to the limited slots offered by these foreign nations and tight budgetary allocations, only a few officers get the opportunity to attend these all-important courses to help them acquire a high-quality professional military education at the strategic level.

The establishment of the NCDS has enabled GAF and Ghana as a whole to harness its full benefits of providing the best environment to produce a good number of strategic leaders from Ghana and allied countries, capable of marshalling the instrument of national power to meet the security and other developmental needs of their countries. It equips strategic leaders with the requisite knowledge and skills to take up high level policy, leadership and staff positions in any environment.

ACCREDITATION AND ORGANIZATION
The College has GTEC accreditation and is mentored by GIMPA. The College is organised into the Headquarters, Military Division, Academic Division, Department of Administration, and Department of Research and Development.

College Headquarters
The Chief Coord/Chief of Staff who is of the rank of Brig. Gen/equivalent is responsible for coordinating activities of the College and proper functioning of the Headquarters.

Military Division
Headed by the Director of Studies of the rank of Brigadier General or its equivalent and takes lead in the running of core military programmes towards the award of “Fellow of the National College of Defence Studies (fncds)”.

Academic Division
Headed by the Dean/Director of Academic Affairs and takes lead in the running of non-military programmes towards the award of a post graduate degree.

Department of Administration
Headed by a Brig Gen/equivalent and gives administrative and logistics support to the other divisions and departments.

Department of Research and Development
The Director is of the rank of Brig Gen/equivalent and is responsible for all the R&D issues of the College - quality assurance, library, and research in security and defense studies.

NATIONAL AND OVERSEAS STUDY TOURS
The course involves travelling on study tours both within and outside the country. These are broken down into three segments namely National, Africa and the World study tours. The tours are focused on providing exposure to forward areas, in the study of International Strategy and Higher Defence Organisations of selected foreign countries.