NATO School The NATO SCHOOL Oberammergau in southern Germany is NATO ' s key training facility on the operational level , the only one of its kind in the world . The School started with two courses in 1953 and now offers over 100 different courses to Alliance members and partners on subjects related to NATO ' s policies , strategies , missions and operations . In 2013 the School celebrates its 60th anniversary under the slogan “ 60 Years of Teaching Excellence ” . Overview . The NATO School Oberammergau conducts multinational military education and individual training in support of current and developing NATO operations , strategy , policy , doctrine and procedures . This includes cooperation , dialogue , and information exchange , including education and training , with military and civilian personnel from non - NATO nations . Since 1953 , more than 200 , 000 officers , non - commissioned officers and civilians have attended courses at the School . Annually , about 10 , 000 students and conference attendees visit the School . Curriculum . The NATO School Oberammergau provides courses of instruction in six main disciplines , mostly one week in duration , in the fields of : Primarily focused on individual education , NATO School Oberammergau also supports many aspects of collective training , exercises , experimentation and operations . Education and training is centred on combined and operational art while offering Mobile Education and Training Teams , web based Advanced Distributed Learning and of course resident courses and seminars . Moreover , the School has become a popular destination for many defence and security related conferences . Stakeholders . Allied Command Transformation ( ACT ) provides guidance for the School ’ s quality assurance with Allied Command Operations ( ACO – also known as SHAPE ) providing most of the curriculum . The courses are continually revised and updated to reflect current developments in SHAPE and across NATO as a whole . Germany and United States contribute personnel , facilities and logistics support . The expanded role of the School is reflected in its staff and faculty ; more than twenty nations voluntarily contribute personnel to the staff body of the School . The students regularly come from all allied and national military commands within the NATO alliance . Nevertheless students from about 80 different nations attend classes in Oberammergau , including members of the alliance ’ s Partnership for Peace programme , nations composing the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Conference Initiative , and other Partner nations . History . The Hoetzendorf Casern . The Hoetzendorf Kaserne ( barracks ) in Oberammergau was planned soon after the German National Socialist Party took power in 1933 and construction began in 1935 . Most of the original twenty buildings were completed in just two years and are still standing today , albeit in modified form . The Hoetzendorf Barracks was named after Field Marshal Franz Xavier Joseph Conrad von Hoetzendorf ( 1852 – 1925 ) , who was the Chief of Staff of the Austrian - Hungarian armed forces at the outbreak of the First World War . The Barracks was home to the 54th Mountain Signal Battalion from October 1937 and from August 1943 the Messerschmitt research and design bureau , operating under the cover name of ‘ Upper Bavarian Research Institute ’ , moved on to the site from Augsburg . The Institute worked on high speed jet aircraft designs such as the Me - 262 and the variable - geometry ‘ Projekt 1101 ’ , the Enzian surface to air missile and other aircraft weapons systems . A tunnel complex - thought to house a Mach 10 wind tunnel - was partially constructed in the base of the adjacent Laber mountain and the Institute also controlled outlying production facilities in tunnels near Eschenlowe and at Schloss Linderhoff . In March and April 1945 , the Barracks also became the temporary home to 400 - 500 V - 2 ballistic missile engineers and technicians who were evacuated from Peenemünde , under SS - Major Wernher von Braun , who subsequently led the NASA Apollo Programme . The site was discovered by US forces on 29 April 1945 and half of the site became a United Nations Relief and Reconstruction Agency ‘ Displaced Persons ’ Camp for about 18 months . The US Army also established a European Theatre Intelligence School , and one of the early instructors ( 1946 – 47 ) was Nobel Laureate Henry Kissinger , who was US Secretary of State between 1973 and 1977 . In 1947 the US War Department established Detachment “ R ” , training US military and civilian personnel in Russian language , culture and politics in preparation for diplomatic tours in the Soviet Union . Instructors were drawn from Russian émigrés and the immersion training principle was used – all instruction was in Russian language with students and their families encouraged to live as Russians during their three years at Oberammergau . In 1964 the detachment moved to nearby Garmisch - Partenkirchen to become the US Army Russian Institute , which was absorbed into the George C Marshall Centre for European Security Studies in 1993 . Commencement of NATO Training . In September 1952 the US Army Europe decided to design a two week course of instruction to cover staff planning and procedures for nuclear war . This course was to be established at the US Army Intelligence and Military Police School in Oberammergau . The Intelligence Department was given the mission of conducting these classes with the first one conducted in January 1953 . Two month later , the Special Weapons Branch was activated . The Hoetzendorf Kaserne in Oberammergau , home to the School , was renamed as the Hawkins Barracks on 20 September 1954 , in honour of Lt Col Jesse M . Hawkins US Army , who was Assistant Chief of Staff , Intelligence of the 2nd Armoured Division , who fought gallantly and was killed in France in September 1944 . The US Army School Command , Europe was established at Oberammergau , Germany , on 1 April 1960 , to provide centralised control of the major elements of the school system . The Ordnance , Engineer , Quartermaster and Signal Schools were consolidated and instruction in Adjutant General Subjects was discontinued . At the same time a special weapons department was added to the Intelligence and Military Police School at Oberammergau . Increased NATO Training Role . In 1966 , the Special Weapons Branch became the NATO Weapons Systems Department and was placed under the operational control of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe ( SACEUR ) . The curriculum was expanded and additional courses were introduced . In 1972 , the Department became the NATO Weapons Systems School . The School remained under the operational control of SACEUR , but was designated as a separate , joint - service , multinational United States European Command ( USEUCOM ) activity . On 29 June 1974 the last US Commandant of the Hawkins Barracks , Colonel Kamp US Army , handed back the site to the German MoD , represented by Mr Christoph Wirsching , Director of the Wehrbereichskommando IV ( Military District HQ ) in Munich . The majority of facilities became part of the new Bundeswehrverwaltungschule IV ( German Army Administration School IV ) . On 12 August 1975 , the NATO School ( SHAPE ) was officially established by Charter as a bilateral institution between the governments of the United States of America and the Federal Republic of Germany . At the same time the Hawkins Barracks was returned to the original installation name . On 18 December 1984 , the site was also subjected to an abortive car - bomb attack by the Red Army Fraktion ( also known as the Baader - Meinhof Gang ) . A stolen car laden with explosives was driven on to the site and abandoned by its driver , whose actions and dress raised concerns with the Deputy Commandant . The Bundespolizei were shortly on the scene and the massive car - bomb was rendered safe ; there were no casualties and there have been no arrests . Between 1970 and 1990 the school expanded its curriculum from 6 to 23 courses as NATO recognised the value of standardised education for members of the Alliance . By 1978 the academic portfolio of NATO School ( SHAPE ) had four key departments . The Orientation Department provided training for staff officers newly - assigned to NATO HQs , while the Employment Department covered planning , policy and surety aspects of the employment of NATO nuclear weapons . A Nuclear , Biological and Chemical Department gave instruction on the defence against NBC weapons and an Electronic Warfare Department trained students on defensive electronic warfare . While over the last decades the curriculum focussed on courses reflecting the military circumstances of the Cold War , in the mid - 90th new conflicts on the Balkans led to new courses enabling NATO forces securing the peace across the region . As a result of NATO intervention in Yugoslavia and the Dayton Agreement signed in late 1995 , NATO School ( SHAPE ) hosted a Special Arms Control Course in 1996 . Arms control inspectors from the five Parties to the Dayton Agreement attended a course on implementation of the detailed arms control agreements to support the Bosnia peace process . Thus , NATO School ( SHAPE ) progressively broadened its programmes , away from specifically military training and towards addressing wider peace support concerns . Furthermore , the conflict across the Balkans illustrated the battlespace was now shared with militias , civilians , United Nations agencies and non - governmental organisations . From 1997 NATO School ( SHAPE ) hosted a range of courses reflecting these changes . A Civil Emergency Planning ( CEP ) / Civil - Military Co - operation ( CIMIC ) Course addressed the basic principles and procedures of civil - military co - operation within NATO ’ s strategic concept . European Security Cooperation Courses as part of wider NATO - sponsored Security Cooperation Activities . 21st Century . During a Transfer of Authority Ceremony in June 2003 , Supreme Allied Commander Transformation ( SACT ) took over the responsibilities of the School and the School got its present name : “ NATO School Oberammergau ” . In 2004 the School was granted the status of ‘ NATO Military Body . ’ This enables Voluntary National Contributions at the School to obtain certain privileges and formalises the status of the School within the NATO framework . Between 2004 and 2012 NATO School Oberammergau was one of several NATO institutions and Centres of Excellence throughout NATO member countries that offered education and training facilities to Iraqi students . Assisting the NATO Training Mission - Iraq the school provided education on a wide variety of subjects including Defence against Terrorism , Peace Support Operations , Crisis Management , Civil Military Cooperation ( CIMIC ) and NATO Public Affairs Policy . The school also sends training teams all over the world to provide specialist training to larger audiences . The security environment continues to change at a rapid rate and NATO is working to ensure that the Alliance is capable of meeting these emerging security challenges . Cyber - attacks , the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction , terrorism and other emerging threats such as energy vulnerabilities are all matters of concerns to the security of NATO ’ s almost 900 million citizens . NATO School Oberammergau continuously adapts its training and education programme to meet these challenges .