NPS Collaboration Keeps NATO Up To Speed in Cyber Security

By MC2 Lenny Weston, NPS Public Affairs Office

The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) initiated a relationship in 2004, with NPS serving as a United States' Partnership for Peace Training and Education Center. Since then, the university has developed a strong connection with the NATO School Oberammergau (NSO), launching the NPS-NSO Cyber Security Program, and later the Cyber Security Professional Program, to address the rising need for cyber awareness within NATO members and partners. 

The NPS-NSO partnership goes beyond the Cyber Security Program, and when the partnership initially started it offered different courses in the fields of maritime security, energy security and cybersecurity. The cybersecurity program has been the most sought-after of the courses provided due to its rising need. To date, the program has successfully graduated over 1,200 students who together strengthen the organization.

Deciding who can instruct, as well as deliver, these courses is determined during an annual conference through NATO to identify its members and partners' educational needs and priorities. With NPS being a leader in cyber security and having programs already in place, the choice was obvious for NATO on who will teach these highly-valuable courses.
The NPS-NSO relationship began with a conversation between Alan Howard, who now serves as NPS Energy Academic Group (EAG) Associate Chair, and, at the time, NSO's Commandant U.S. Army Col. Mark Baines, who were determining how to align education and training throughout NATO.