diff --git a/lib/ansible/constants.py b/lib/ansible/constants.py
index 055bfd62a3..1e2a635597 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/constants.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/constants.py
@@ -373,8 +373,8 @@ COLOR_DIFF_LINES  = get_config(p, 'colors', 'diff_lines', 'ANSIBLE_COLOR_DIFF_LI
 DIFF_CONTEXT = get_config(p, 'diff', 'context', 'ANSIBLE_DIFF_CONTEXT', 3, value_type='integer')
 
 # non-configurable things
-MODULE_REQUIRE_ARGS       = ['command', 'win_command', 'shell', 'win_shell', 'raw', 'script']
-MODULE_NO_JSON            = ['command', 'win_command', 'shell', 'win_shell', 'raw']
+MODULE_REQUIRE_ARGS       = ['command', 'win_command', 'net_command', 'shell', 'win_shell', 'raw', 'script']
+MODULE_NO_JSON            = ['command', 'win_command', 'net_command', 'shell', 'win_shell', 'raw']
 DEFAULT_BECOME_PASS       = None
 DEFAULT_PASSWORD_CHARS = to_text(ascii_letters + digits + ".,:-_", errors='strict')  # characters included in auto-generated passwords
 DEFAULT_SUDO_PASS         = None
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/network/basics/net_command.py b/lib/ansible/modules/network/basics/net_command.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9c5707319c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/network/basics/net_command.py
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+#!/usr/bin/python
+#
+# This file is part of Ansible
+#
+# Ansible is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Ansible is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with Ansible.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+
+ANSIBLE_METADATA = {
+    'status': ['preview'],
+    'supported_by': 'core',
+    'version': '1.0'
+}
+
+DOCUMENTATION = """
+---
+module: net_command
+version_added: "2.3"
+author: "Peter Sprygada (@privateip)"
+short_description: Executes a common on a remote network device
+description:
+  - This module will take the command and execute it on the remote
+    device in a CLI shell.  The command will outout will be returned
+    via the stdout return key.  If an error is detected, the command
+    will return the error via the stderr key.
+options:
+  free_form:
+    description:
+      - A free form command to run on the remote host.  There is no
+        parameter actually named 'free_form'.  See the examples .
+    required: true
+notes:
+  - This module requires setting the Ansible connection type to network_cli
+  - This module will always set the changed return key to C(True)
+"""
+
+EXAMPLES = """
+- name: execute show version
+  net_command: show version
+
+- name: run a series of commmands
+  net_command: "{{ item }}"
+  with_items:
+    - show interfaces
+    - show ip route
+    - show version
+"""
+
+RETURN = """
+rc:
+  description: The command return code (0 means success)
+  returned: always
+  type: int
+  sample: 0
+stdout:
+  description: The command standard output
+  returned: always
+  type: string
+  sample: "Hostname: ios01\nFQDN:     ios01.example.net"
+stderr:
+  description: The command standard error
+  returned: always
+  type: string
+  sample: "shw hostname\r\n% Invalid input\r\nios01>"
+stdout_lines:
+  description: The command standard output split in lines
+  returned: always
+  type: list
+  sample: ["Hostname: ios01", "FQDN:     ios01.example.net"]
+start:
+  description: The time the job started
+  returned: always
+  type: str
+  sample: "2016-11-16 10:38:15.126146"
+end:
+  description: The time the job ended
+  returned: always
+  type: str
+  sample: "2016-11-16 10:38:25.595612"
+delta:
+  description: The time elapsed to perform all operations
+  returned: always
+  type: str
+  sample: "0:00:10.469466"
+"""
+from ansible.module_utils.local import LocalAnsibleModule
+
+def main():
+    """ main entry point for module execution
+    """
+    argument_spec = dict(
+        _raw_params=dict()
+    )
+
+    module = LocalAnsibleModule(argument_spec=argument_spec,
+                                supports_check_mode=False)
+
+    if str(module.params['_raw_params']).strip() == '':
+        module.fail_json(rc=256, msg='no command given')
+
+    result = {'changed': True}
+
+    rc, out, err = module.exec_command(module.params['_raw_params'])
+
+    try:
+        out = module.from_json(out)
+    except ValueError:
+        if out:
+            out = str(out).strip()
+            result['stdout_lines'] = out.split('\n')
+
+    result.update({
+        'rc': rc,
+        'stdout': out,
+        'stderr': str(err).strip()
+    })
+
+    module.exit_json(**result)
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main()
diff --git a/lib/ansible/parsing/mod_args.py b/lib/ansible/parsing/mod_args.py
index fa4cec3d6c..079f2dbd58 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/parsing/mod_args.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/parsing/mod_args.py
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ from ansible.template import Templar
 RAW_PARAM_MODULES = ([
     'command',
     'win_command',
+    'net_command',
     'shell',
     'win_shell',
     'script',
@@ -164,7 +165,7 @@ class ModuleArgsParser:
 
         # only internal variables can start with an underscore, so
         # we don't allow users to set them directy in arguments
-        if args and action not in ('command', 'win_command', 'shell', 'win_shell', 'script', 'raw'):
+        if args and action not in ('command', 'net_command', 'win_command', 'shell', 'win_shell', 'script', 'raw'):
             for arg in args:
                 arg = to_text(arg)
                 if arg.startswith('_ansible_'):
@@ -195,7 +196,7 @@ class ModuleArgsParser:
             args = thing
         elif isinstance(thing, string_types):
             # form is like: local_action: copy src=a dest=b ... pretty common
-            check_raw = action in ('command', 'win_command', 'shell', 'win_shell', 'script', 'raw')
+            check_raw = action in ('command', 'net_command', 'win_command', 'shell', 'win_shell', 'script', 'raw')
             args = parse_kv(thing, check_raw=check_raw)
         elif thing is None:
             # this can happen with modules which take no params, like ping:
diff --git a/test/units/modules/network/__init__.py b/test/units/modules/network/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/test/units/modules/network/basics/__init__.py b/test/units/modules/network/basics/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/test/units/modules/network/basics/test_net_command.py b/test/units/modules/network/basics/test_net_command.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8286480cb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/units/modules/network/basics/test_net_command.py
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+#
+# (c) 2016 Red Hat Inc.
+#
+# This file is part of Ansible
+#
+# Ansible is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Ansible is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with Ansible.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+# Make coding more python3-ish
+from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function)
+__metaclass__ = type
+
+import os
+import json
+
+from ansible.compat.tests import unittest
+from ansible.compat.tests.mock import patch, MagicMock
+from ansible.errors import AnsibleModuleExit
+from ansible.modules.network.basics import net_command
+from ansible.module_utils import basic
+from ansible.module_utils.local import LocalAnsibleModule
+from ansible.module_utils._text import to_bytes
+
+
+def set_module_args(args):
+    args = json.dumps({'ANSIBLE_MODULE_ARGS': args})
+    basic._ANSIBLE_ARGS = to_bytes(args)
+
+fixture_path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'fixtures')
+fixture_data = {}
+
+def load_fixture(name):
+    path = os.path.join(fixture_path, name)
+
+    if path in fixture_data:
+        return fixture_data[path]
+
+    with open(path) as f:
+        data = f.read()
+
+    try:
+        data = json.loads(data)
+    except:
+        pass
+
+    fixture_data[path] = data
+    return data
+
+
+class TestNetCommandModule(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def execute_module(self, command_response=None, failed=False, changed=True):
+
+        if not command_response:
+            command_response = (256, '', 'no command response provided in test case')
+
+        with patch.object(LocalAnsibleModule, 'exec_command') as mock_exec_command:
+            mock_exec_command.return_value = command_response
+
+            with self.assertRaises(AnsibleModuleExit) as exc:
+                net_command.main()
+
+        result = exc.exception.result
+
+        if failed:
+            self.assertTrue(result.get('failed'), result)
+        else:
+            self.assertEqual(result.get('changed'), changed, result)
+
+        return result
+
+    def test_net_command_string(self):
+        """
+        Test for all keys in the response
+        """
+        set_module_args({'_raw_params': 'show version'})
+        result = self.execute_module((0, 'ok', ''))
+        for key in ['rc', 'stdout', 'stderr', 'stdout_lines']:
+            self.assertIn(key, result)
+
+    def test_net_command_json(self):
+        """
+        The stdout_lines key should not be present when the return
+        string is a json data structure
+        """
+        set_module_args({'_raw_params': 'show version'})
+        result = self.execute_module((0, '{"key": "value"}', ''))
+        for key in ['rc', 'stdout', 'stderr']:
+            self.assertIn(key, result)
+        self.assertNotIn('stdout_lines', result)
+
+    def test_net_command_missing_command(self):
+        """
+        Test failure on missing command
+        """
+        set_module_args({'_raw_params': ''})
+        self.execute_module(failed=True)