Its purpose is to recruit, assess, select, train and educate the U.S. Army Civil Affairs, Psychological Operations and Special Forces Soldiers by providing training and education, developing doctrine, integrating force-development capability, and providing career management.

The school was tasked with developing the doctrine, techniques, training, and education of Special Forces and Psychological Operations personnel.

The curriculum was expanded to provide training in high-altitude, low-opening (HALO) parachuting and SCUBA operations.

In 1985, SWC was recognized as the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (SWCS).

This designation gave the U.S. Army Special Operations Command control of all components of SOF, with the exception of forward-deployed units.

Students spend 24 weeks studying CAT III or IV languages such as Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Tagalog, Persian, Korean, Thai, Pashto, or Urdu with the end goal being to achieve an ILR score of III or IV (indicating professional proficiency).

All students must pass an Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) before moving to the next phase of their qualification course.