Marshall Center’s U.S. Fellows Program gets accreditation
March 2008
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany — U.S. Army officers can earn senior service school-level credit for the U.S. Fellows Program at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies starting in July.
Current Army Fellow Lt. Col. Martin Perryman participates in discussion during the Executive Program in Advanced Security Studies.
(Photo by Karlheinz Wedhorn)
The Army granted an initial accreditation to the security studies fellowship in January, enabling colonels and lieutenant colonels to earn the Military Education Level-1 credit necessary for promotion after completion of the 11-month course. Other institutions that offer MEL-1 fellowships include Harvard University, the Brookings Institute, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Department of State.
The international and interagency character of the Marshall Center’s program offers a unique opportunity among the Army’s MEL-1 fellowships, according to Army Lt. Col. Ted Donnelly, the U.S. associate dean of the Marshall Center’s College of International and Security Studies.
“The Marshall Center is the only educational institution at the moment that an Army officer can go to and be fully immersed in a joint, interagency, multinational environment,” Donnelly said. “Other places certainly touch on the knowledge and skills needed to work in this kind of environment, but it is typically in a module here or there, whereas we put [the Fellows] in a thoroughly international environment for a year, with people from up to 106 countries between all our courses.”
The fellows participate in three of the center’s resident courses, the Executive Program in Advanced Security Studies, the Program on Terrorism and Security Studies, and the Senior Executive Seminar, which address regional, national and international strategic security issues. They also take two courses at the NATO School in nearby Oberammergau and complete a research project and paper.
The current Army Fellow, Lt. Col. Martin Perryman, is enthusiastic about the Army’s recognition of the Fellows program as consistent with Army War College goals.
“It is a win for the Army and the soldier,” Perryman said. “For the Army, the officer will no longer have to duplicate the educational experience to earn credit and can get back into the field where we can benefit from his knowledge. For the individual, this is likely the only experience an American officer will have as the minority in a group. It is certainly the only forum where you are not only the minority, but surrounded by such a diverse group of international peers.”
The Marshall Center’s U.S. Fellows Program was established in 1998, but until now, only the Air Force Fellows have received MEL-1 credit. Donnelly said he is glad that the discrepancy has been corrected.
“We have never had a problem getting high-quality Army Fellows. They have always been topnotch, and this is just one more reason for the Army’s best officers to come here,” Donnelly said.
The Marshall Center, supported by the U.S. Department of Defense and the German Ministry of Defense, has faculty from 10 partner nations. More than 6,000 military and civilian officials have graduated from resident courses since the center was dedicated in 1993.
As with all newly approved fellowships, the Army will evaluate the Marshall Center fellowship on-site during the first two years prior to granting permanent accreditation.
