Since 2014, the McConnell Center has hosted the Strategic Broadening Seminar for the U.S. Army. The unique 28-day residential leadership program is designed for mid-career soldiers to take part in discussions, lectures and active-learning sessions with experts, local leaders and McConnell Scholars at the University of Louisville.

Programming focuses on the history and philosophical concepts essential to approach leadership and ways of war while facing the challenges of the 21st century. Participants also study American national government, the U.S. Constitution, and the national security process, with an immersion experience in Washington, D.C.. The Washington, D.C., component includes meetings with high-level decision makers and staffers in the Pentagon, the executive branch and on Capitol Hill, as well as engagements with experts at think tanks and within academia.

The goal of this broadening seminar is to provide graduate-level immersion related to the American political order.