[7] The demands of World War II brought out the urgent need for joint action by ground, sea, and air forces.

ANSCOL conducted a four-month course that was successful in training officers for joint command and staff duties.

Naval Receiving Station, was selected by the Secretaries of War and Navy because of its immediate availability and its proximity to varied high-level military activities.

They assembled in converted administration buildings on 3 February 1947 to be greeted by the first commandant, Air Force Lieutenant General Delos C. Emmons.

[citation needed] With Normandy Hall's construction in 1962, AFSC completed its transition from a temporary to a permanent institution.

[citation needed] In 1999, JFSC opened Okinawa Hall which houses the Congressman Owen Pickett Wargaming Center and the Congressman Ike Skelton Library, which is a specialized military library focusing on research in joint and combined operations, military history and naval science, operational warfare, and irregular warfare.

[8] In 2013, in addition to JFSC's resident program in Norfolk, Virginia, a new-model Joint Professional Military Education Phase II course was established at the Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida.

JFSC offers this 10-week satellite program course with equal air, land, and sea service, but hosted by JSOU, making it technically "non-resident."

[9] Each year, about 800 students graduate from the 10-week Joint and Combined Warfighting School (JCWS) in-residence program at JFSC in Norfolk.

[9] In April 2012, a course on Islam at the Joint Forces Staff College was suspended and the instructor, LTC Matthew Dooley, USA, suspended and later relieved of his teaching duties when an American science and technology magazine, "Wired," broke out the story, revealing that students were being taught that all Muslims, not just terrorists, are enemies of the United States, and that it would be justified to "obliterate the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina without regard for civilian deaths".

On 20 June 2012, the Pentagon announced the completion of its inquiry into the JFSC course and a larger review of professional military education.