Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany — More than 160 participants from 36 European and Eurasian nations will complete the Marshall Center’s Program in Advanced Security Studies in a graduation ceremony 11 a.m. August 12 on Sheridan Kaserne here.

The Graduation speaker at the will be German Air Force General Gerhard W. Back, Commander of the Allied Joint Force Command Headquarters Brunssum. Back was Germany’s Chief of the Air Staff from 2001-2004.

The graduating class is just the second to complete the 12-week program, which is designed to give civilian government officials, military officers and academicians graduate-level education in security policy, defense affairs, international relations and related topics. The Marshall Center uses a coordinated program of core studies, electives and field studies to give the students a common understanding of the critical aspects of global security. Seminars are structured to bring together participants from a variety of countries and backgrounds to complement the program’s assigned readings, debates, panels and role-playing exercises.

Marshall Center graduates have gone on to careers as ambassadors, diplomats, ministers, general officers, and leaders of their nations.

Media are invited to cover the graduation ceremony, which will begin at 11 a.m. August 12th at the Marshall Center, on Sheridan Barracks in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Interviews with participants or Marshall Center officials may be coordinated with the Marshall Center Public Affairs Office. Please contact Joseph Ferrare at 00-49-8821-7502-543, mobile 00-49-(0)162-296-1726, or email ferrarej@marshallcenter.org for more information.

The Marshall Center is a renowned U.S. Department of Defense and German Ministry of Defense educational institution. More than 3,700 military and civilian officials from more than 50 nations have graduated from resident courses and more than 13,200 have attended more than 200 conferences discussing European and Central Asian security issues since the center was dedicated in 1993.