SOME ASPECTS OF TRAINING AT MILITARY ACADEMIES

Abstract

When the South African Defence Force established the Military Academy in 1950 in order to provide higher education for career officers, many eyebrows were raised at this innovative step. The Union Defence Force had, after all, just emerged as co-victors from World War II and managed quite well with an officers corps where degrees were conspicuous by their absence. There was, furthermore, a vague but widespread feeling that academical training was synonymous with pure 'theory', whilst war required 'practical' men with 'practical' experience. As many considered theory and practice to be mutually exclusive, dire predictions were made about the future efficiency of this 'army of professors'.