The NATO School opened in 1953 at the height of the Cold War, when it was known as the U.S. Army School. At that time it had courses on nuclear operations, including measures for the security of nuclear weapons. Officers up to the rank of general attend more than 40 different courses it offers each year. About 20 of the courses are open to non-NATO European countries. North African and Middle Eastern countries, including Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco, are admitted to six courses.
Most courses last up to three weeks.
Buchanan said that in its first year as an open institution it had 89 students from former communist countries. This year their number was 1,050 and plans are that by the year 2002 it will rise to around 2,000. The NATO School insists that participating governments are kept aware of its activities. In July this year the Ambassadors of about 30 countries spent a week at the School. In January 1999 several defense ministers and chiefs of the defense staff will visit.