Department of Defence Studies, King's College London

The Department is an 'integral' part of the UK Defence Academy.

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, the London-based Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS), both of which form part of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, and at the Royal Air Force College in Lincolnshire.