The College owes its origin to the early days of NATO when the first Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Eisenhower, was confronted with the problem of finding suitably trained staff to fill the posts in the NATO organisation. He therefore proposed to the Standing Group that a Defense College should be formed to fulfil this function. This proposal was agreed and the French Government set aside part of the historic Ecole Militaire building in Paris to house the college. The first course began in November 1951, some two years after the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty and since then fifteen courses have been held, each of approximately six months duration.

The first Commandant was Admiral Lemonnier of France, who was succeeded by Air Marshal Sir Lawrence Darvall, R.A.F., Great Britain, Lieutenant General Clovis E. Byers, United States Army, Lieutenant General de Renzi, Italian Army, and Major General Estcourt, British Army. The present Commandant is Lieutenant General Ariburun of the Turkish Air Force.