Military academy
A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned.
For the film, see Military Academy (film).
Three types of academy exist: pre-collegiate-level institutions awarding academic qualifications, university-level institutions awarding bachelor's-degree-level qualifications, and those preparing officer cadets for commissioning into the armed services of the state.
A naval academy is either a type of military academy (in the broad sense of that term) or is distinguished from one (in the narrow sense). In U.S. usage, the Military, Merchant Marine, Naval, Coast Guard, and the Air Force Academy serve as military academies under the categorization of service academies in that country.
History[edit]
The first military academies were established in the 18th century to provide future officers for technically specialized corps, such as military engineers and artillery, with scientific training.
The Italian Military Academy was inaugurated in Turin on January 1, 1678, as the Savoy Royal Academy, making it the oldest military academy in existence.[1] The Royal Danish Naval Academy was set up in 1701.[2] The Royal Military Academy, Woolwich was set up in 1741, after a false start in 1720 because of a lack of funds,[3] as the earliest military academy in Britain. Its original purpose was to train cadets entering the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. In France, the École Royale du Génie at Mézières was founded in 1748, followed by a non-technical academy in 1751, the École Royale Militaire offering a general military education to the nobility. French military academies were widely copied in Prussia, Austria, Russia. The Norwegian Military Academy in Oslo, educates officers of the Norwegian Army. The academy was established in 1750, and is the oldest institution for higher education in Norway.
By the turn of the century, under the impetus of the Napoleonic Wars and the strain that the armies of Europe subsequently came under, military academies for the training of commissioned officers of the army were set up in most of the combatant nations. These military schools had two functions: to provide instruction for serving officers in the functions of the efficient staff-officer, and to school youngsters before they gained an officer's commission.[4] The Kriegsakademie in Prussia was founded in 1801 and the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr was created by order of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802 as a replacement for the École Royale Militaire of the Ancien Régime (the institution that Napoleon himself had graduated from).
The Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in England was the brainchild of John Le Marchant in 1801,[5] who established schools for the military instruction of officers at High Wycombe and Great Marlow, with a grant of £30,000 from Parliament. The two original departments were later combined and moved to Sandhurst.
In the United States, the United States Military Academy (USMA) in West Point, New York was founded on March 16, 1802, and is one of five service academies in the nation.
Germany has a unique system for civil and military education. The only true military academy is the Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr where mainly future staff officers and general staff officers are further trained.
The standard education in military leadership is the task of the Offizierschulen (officers' schools) run by the three branches. The contents differ from branch to branch. According to the doctrine "leading by task", in the army all prospective platoon leaders are trained down to the level of a commander of a mixed combat battalion. There they also have to pass an officer exam to become commissioned later on.
Moreover, there exist so called Waffenschulen (school of weapons) like infantry school or artillery school. There the officers learn to deal with the typical tasks of their respective corps.
A specialty of the German concept of officer formation is the academic education. Germany runs two Universities of the German Federal Armed Forces where almost every future officer has to pass non-military studies and achieve a bachelor's or master's degree. During their studies (after at least three years of service) the candidates become commissioned Leutnant (second lieutenant).
The three officer's schools are:
Academic and staff education:
The Hellenic Armed Forces have military academies supervised by each branch of the Armed Forces individually:
Highest Military Academies (ΑΣΣ) or Higher Military Educational Institutions (ΑΣΕΙ):
Higher Military NCO Academies (ΑΣΣΥ):
Despite their names (Greek: Σχολές Υπαξιωματικών, lit. 'Sub-officers' Academies'), their alumni can advance to the rank of Antisyntagmatarchis/Antipterachos/Antiploiarchos.
The Indonesian Military Academy[20] was founded in Yogyakarta, October 13, 1945, by the order of General Staff Chief of Indonesia Army Lieutenant General Urip Sumohardjo as the Militaire Academie (MA) Yogyakarta.
Currently, the Tentara Nasional Indonesia or the TNI (Indonesian National Armed Forces), under the supervision of the Commanding General of the Indonesian National Armed Forces Academy System (a two or three-star officer in billet) in the HQ of the Indonesian National Armed Forces, has divided the academies into the three respective services:
Each service academy is headed by a two-star general who serves as superintendent, and his/her deputy is a one-star officer. All the students (cadets/midshipman) are recruited from senior high school graduates from all over Indonesia. Shortly after graduation, they are commissioned as Letnan Dua (Second Lieutenant/Ensign) in their respective service branches and receive a bachelor's degree comparable to those awarded by civil academies or universities. The length term is now 4 years and is divided into five grades of cadets' ranks, starting from the lowest:
Taruna is also a nickname to cadets in the Military, Naval, and Air Force Academies, however other nicknames such as Kadet refers to cadets in the Naval Academy, while Karbol refers to cadets in the Air Force Academy. The term "Taruna" however still applies to all cadets from the three academies.
Until 1999, before the Indonesian National Police officially separated from the armed forces, the Indonesian Police Academy ("AKPOL") also stood under the National Armed Forces Academy but now has separated from the Military and is under the auspices of the President of Indonesia controlled by the National Police Headquarters (Mabes Polri), where in the other hand the Armed Forces (Army, Naval, and Air Force) Academies of Indonesia is under the auspices of the Ministry of Defense controlled by the Armed Forces General Headquarters (Mabes TNI). Presently, the Police Academy is in Semarang (Central Java), and is supervised under the supervision of the Chief of the Indonesian National Police (Kapolri).
All three academies and the Police Academy have a joint 4th class cadet training program since 2008, after completing it the cadets go to their respective academies to continue with the three remaining years of study before commissioning.
Iran has five main military universities:
High school level institutions (only for classical and scientific liceum, starting from grade 10):
2009–2010 school year was the first school year with girls attending.
Non Commissioned Officer (NCO) schools:
University level institutions:
Secondary level institutions:
University level:
Specialist training and staff institutions:
Reserve Officer Training Units (Malay: Pasukan Latihan Pegawai Simpanan or PALAPES) or ROTU exists only in public universities in Malaysia. This is a tertiary institution based officer commissioning program to equip students as officer cadets with military knowledge and understanding for service as Commissioned Officers in the reserve components of the various branches of the Malaysian Armed Forces.
Tier One – initial officer training
Tier Two – junior officer education
Tier Three – senior officer education
Undergraduate officer training
The Philippines patterned all its service academies after the United States Military Academy (West Point) and the United States Merchant Marine Academy (King's Point).
These higher education institutions are operated by the Philippine Government and grant different baccalaureate degrees.
Aside from the PMA and the PMMA, all three branches of the AFP have their own Officer Candidate Course Programs for both men and women, patterned after their US counterparts.
The nation's higher military colleges are:
The three main military academies:
Other military academies:
Uganda maintains the followings military training institutions, as of December 2010:[27]