Marshall Center 2015 Year in Review
By Christine June
Public Affairs Office
George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany (Dec. 31, 2015) -- As 2015 gets put to bed tonight, take a trip in the not-so-way-back machine for some of the Marshall Center’s most popular stories, posts and videos from this year.
The Marshall Center Public Affairs Office has compiled a four-part series of our year in review because, quite frankly, it was a busy year!
Part one is from January to March 2015. This trip back to the beginning of the year starts with our first alumnus from Japan and includes our inaugural Program on Cyber Security Studies, as well as our first iteration of the Program on Terrorism and Security Studies for the year and our Program on Security Sector Capacity Building. As if that wasn’t enough to keep us busy, we provided space and logistics, and some of our professors played a key role in the AFRICOM conference held here. To end the first quarter, some of our professors wrote chapters in the book on NATO’s Future Operations in Afghanistan. This was the time that we also said goodbye to a dear colleague and friend – U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Bryan Hasty – during a memorial service at the Garmisch Community Chapel.
The second part covers April to June 2015. This review section starts with the visit from Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) Debra Wada in April, followed by the second iteration of the Countering Narcotics and Illicit Trafficking resident program, Seminar on Regional Security, and Seminar on Transnational Civil Security. Our non-resident programs kept us hoping all year long and highlighted in this quarter is its Moldova Senior Leadership Seminar and Seminar for Kosovo Parliamentarians. Our Equal Opportunity Diversity Observances Committee celebrated the Department of Defense's first Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month observance with a Color Run/Walk June 26 at the softball fields on Artillery Kaserne. Then, there was the 41st G7 summit held June 7 & 8 in Schloss Elmau, less than 15 minutes from our doorstep.
Our third review covers July to September 2015. We first highlight our first Alumnus from the Cayman Islands, who attended our Senior Executive Seminar in September. Then we delve into our Seminar on Transnational Civil Security, and second iteration of the Program on Terrorism and Security Studies. We hosted the U.S. European Command's second European Security Summit, July 22-23. Our Partner Language Training Center, Europe hosted the English Teaching Faculty Development Workshop from July 13 to 24, as well as cosponsoring with the Non-Resident Programs to design and hold the first Language for Diplomacy Workshop here July 28 to Aug. 13. Speaking of Non-Resident Programs, Parliamentarians from Bosnia and Herzegovina met here for a two-day tailored seminar on the parliament’s role in the management and oversight of the security sector Sept. 1. Held every September here, the Eurasian Security Studies Seminar provides U.S. Army Foreign Area Officers-in-training a better understanding of their duties, roles and responsibilities in working on regional security issues at various command headquarters and U.S. embassies. Then there was the Partnership for Peace Consortium’s 17th Annual Conference at the Austrian National Defense Academy in Vienna from July 1 to 3.
The final months of 2015 – October to December – starts with the visit from the President of Kosovo Atifete Jahjaga, an alumna of the Marshall Center, who spoke Nov. 4, 2015 during our Program on Applied Security Studies. Other highlights include our cosponsoring the International Cyber Summit with U.S. European Command, weeks before we held our second iteration of the Program on Cyber Security Studies, and hosting a counterterrorism alumni study on how to deal with foreign fighters, weeks before our second iteration for 2015 of the Program on Terrorism and Security Studies. As a great representation of our German-American Partnership, we celebrated the 25th ‘Day of German Unity.’ We dedicated the ‘Nick Pratt Hall’ in honor of our colleague and friend - Retired U.S. Marine Corps Col. Nichols “Nick” Pratt. Our Non-Resident Programs held tailored seminars for Ukrainian Parliament Members and Bulgarian Parliamentarians.
Whew! What a year! Like I said, a very busy year for the Marshall Center. In fact, we just couldn’t include everything, but hopefully, you got a glimpse of all that happened here at the Marshall Center in 2015. We look forward to continuing the legacy of Gen. George C. Marshall in 2016.
Happy New Year to you and yours from the leadership, staff and faculty of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies.