AKIPRESS.COM - Mongolia graduated its second Staff Officers Course class and declared a new capacity for the faculty of the Mongolian National Defence University at a ceremony held on 13 December 2016 at the Ministry of Defence in Ulaanbaatar, NATO said.

These achievements were made possible by NATO's Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP), which is "providing Mongolian officers the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills to carry out their duties in international peacekeeping operations," explained the Mongolian National Defence University President Major General Yadmaa Choijamts.

Part of Mongolia's partnership with NATO, DEEP has been increasing the impulse for reform, by actively supporting transformational change in the Mongolian professional military education system. This has helped to modernise teaching methods and carve out a niche for Mongolia as a provider in NATO and partner education and training community.

"Since it started in 2013, DEEP has been a tremendous success," said Minister of Defence Bat-Erdene Badmaanyambuu.

Echoing this sentiment in his address to the new graduates, Dr Sven Gareis, DEEP Academic Lead for Mongolia, stated that "Mongolian ownership and leadership became the characteristics of DEEP – which was the key to success."

Mongolia and NATO also conducted an annual review of progress achieved through DEEP at the Mongolian National Defence University on 12-16 December 2016. "Educators passed the skills and experience gained through DEEP on to the rest of the faculty to transform the methods and the curriculum content of the Mongolian National Defence University in compatibility with western and NATO defence education standards," explained Major General Choijamts.

The programme has bolstered the Mongolian National Defence University's faculty and curriculum development efforts through the academic leadership of the George C. Marshall Center in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the contributions from institutions such as the German Staff College in Hamburg and the Slovak Armed Forces Academy in Liptovský Mikuláš.