Marshall Center Cancels Two Resident Events as COVID-19 Preventive Measure
By Christine June
Public Affairs Office
George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany (March 9, 2020) — The George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies announced March 9 the cancellation of two resident courses after reviewing the U.S. Army Europe and German government guidance, as well as available information on coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The Marshall Center is a 26-year-old, German-American defense studies institute based here.
“Fortunately, there is currently no evidence of the coronavirus disease at the Marshall Center. Our intention is to keep it that way,” said the Marshall Center Director, retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Keith W. Dayton.
“The health and wellbeing of our employees and their families, and of course, the participants, is our highest priority,” he said. “We are acting to also protect the members of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen community.”
Dayton made this decision in consultation with the Marshall Center’s German Element, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency and U.S. Army Europe.
“This decision was not taken lightly, but it is necessary and right in view of the current situation,” Dayton said.
Dayton said that plans have not been made to cancel or postpone any other resident events. This includes whether or not the two canceled events are rescheduled.
“We will continue to monitor the situation, as well as our ability to support individuals should they contract the virus,” he said. “We expect things will become clearer in the coming weeks, and we will evaluate each upcoming event based on the information available.”
Dayton stressed that the Marshall Center is not “shutdown, and the threat is no greater than it has been. In fact, we have participants here attending ongoing events.”
Combined, these two events would have brought more than 100 participants from 40 to 50 nations to the Marshall Center.
The two resident courses are the Program on Countering Transnational Organized Crime, scheduled from March 17 to April 8, and the Cyber Global Workshop, scheduled from March 10 to 12.
The Marshall Center’s CTOC is a four-week resident program that focuses on the national security threats posed by a wide range of transnational criminal activities.
The Marshall Center is a leading transatlantic defense educational institution.
Operating since 1993 as a German-American partnership, the Marshall Center offers post-graduate courses, conferences, research programs, foreign area studies, and language courses to civilian and military professionals from around the world.
To date, the Marshall Center has an alumni network of more than 14,000 security professionals from 157 countries.
The mission of the Marshall Center is to enable solutions to regional and transnational security challenges through capacity building, access, and a globally connected network, existing international cybersecurity education and workforce development strategies and policies to enhance capacity-building and partner engagement.