Wooden rack displaying 36 flags. The Defense College is an advanced-studies institute for senior officers of the member nations of the Inter-American Defense Board. The officers study world alliances and the international situation, the inter-American system and its role, strategic concepts of war, and engage in a planning exercise for hemispheric defense. The college has been at Fort McNair since 1962. Presented to the City of San Diego on the occasion of the visit of Class XXXVI, Inter-American Defense College, 30 April to 5 May 1997.