Military academies in Russia
has a number of military academies of different specialties. This article primarily lists institutions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation rather than those of the Soviet Armed Forces.
Russian institutions called "academy" are post-graduate professional military schools for experienced, commissioned officers who have the equivalent of a bachelor's degree. Upon graduation, officers receive the equivalent of a master's degree and, if trained in military leadership are appointed as battalion commanders or higher from Lt. Colonel and up. Graduates with non-command training are appointed to various staff positions equivalent to Major or Lt. Colonel. Commissioned officers can study on the Kandidat Nauk level, equivalent to a Ph.D. degree. This research-oriented degree is required for faculty positions in military schools and defence research institutes. Carefully selected experienced researchers in military academies hold limited-term positions as senior scholars leading to the prestigious post-doctoral Doktor Nauk degree, which is roughly the equivalent of a habilitation at Central European universities where it is a prerequisite for full professor positions in institutions of higher learning. There also are a number of "officer commissioning schools" for various services known as Higher Military Schools or Institutes.
As of 2010, a major reorganization of Russian military officer education, spanning the range from General Staff Academy to officer commissioning school, was underway.
National joint-service educational instituitons
Military University of the Ministry of Defense
Military Academy of the General Staff
In 1936 Leonid Govorov founded the current General Staff Academy in Moscow. It has been the senior Russian professional school for officers in their late 1930s. The "best and the brightest" senior commissioned officers of all forces are selected to attend this most prestigious of all Soviet military academies. Students are admitted to the Academy in the ranks of lieutenant colonel, colonel, and Major General. Most are colonels or newly promoted generals. Previous names include: Marshal Voroshilov Military Academy of the WPRA General Staff; General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR; General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.Military Academies of the Ground Forces
The precedence and grouping of these academies are drawn from Michael Holm's site.Combined Arms Academy
In 1918 the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow was established as the academy of the General Staff, which became the RKKA Military Academy in 1921. It is named after Mikhail Frunze then USSR Minister of Defence in mid-1920s. It is roughly the equivalent of the U.S. Army's Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas or the British Army's Staff College, Camberley. Officers in their late twenties up to thirty-two years at the rank of Captain or Major enter if they pass the competitive entry examinations.In the 1930s, higher academic courses were added to the Frunze curriculum as an advanced training program for previous graduates. Later on, this program became the basis for the "Voroshilov General Staff Academy" and the Frunze Academy refocused upon combined arms ground warfare training at the tactical level. In September 1998 the Frunze Academy and the "Malinovsky Academy" were amalgamated into the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, on the site of the former Frunze Academy, which since 2010 is known as Military Educational and Scientific Centre. The Military Educational and Scientific Centre has been the site of a number of Russian-Western joint military activities, including an IISS conference in February 2001, and U.S.-Russian exercises.
After graduation from Military Educational and Scientific Center, every graduate officer receives a diploma and a silver diamond-shaped badge which has to be worn on the right side of his uniform or civilian clothes above all other military or civilian decorations or ribbon bars.
Marshal Rodion Malinovsky Military Armored Forces Academy
The Malinovsky Military Armored Forces Academy was established in 1932 in Moscow as the "J.V. Stalin Academy of the WPRA Mechanization and Motorization Program". It was named after Marshal Rodion Malinovsky in 1967. Its mission was to train Soviet and Warsaw Pact commanders, staff officers, and engineers for armored and mechanized units. The best-qualified graduates were selected for the" centralized operations division" of the General Staff. Students entered as captains and majors, some as lieutenant colonels, about on an intermediate level with the Army's Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB, Alabama. Commanding and staff officers underwent a three-year program while engineers were taught for 4 years. In 1998 the Academy merged with the Frunze Academy to become the "Combined Arms Academy".Mikhailovskaya Military Artillery Academy/Military Artillery Academy "Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich"
The Mikhailovskaya Artillery Military Academy in Saint Petersburg dates back to 1698. In 1849 it was named Mikhailovskaya after Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich of Russia. In 1925 it merged into the Red Army Military Technical Academy, was restored in 1953 as Kalinin Artillery Military Academy as a spin-off of the Dzerzhinsky Academy, and in 1995 went back to the Grand Duke's name.Marshal Aleksander Vasilevsky Military Academy of the Armed Forces Air Defence Branch
The was created in 1977 in Kiev as a spin-off of the Kalinin Artillery Military Academy. It was named after Marshal of the Soviet Union Aleksandr Vasilevsky. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, its Kiev campus evolved into the General Staff Academy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which became the Ivan Chernyakhovsky National Defence University of Ukraine from 2013. In 1992, most of the staff and cadets moved to Smolensk and the facilities of the Smolensk Higher Engineering Radioelectronic School of the Ground Forces Air Defence Branch, which became its new home. It re-adopted the honorific "named for Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevskiy" on 11 May 2007.Military Engineering Academy "V.V. Kuybyshev">Valerian Kuybyshev">V.V. Kuybyshev"
Located in Moscow, this military academy trained medium-rank commissioned officers for the Engineering Troops. Its full formal title until 1998 was the Military-Engineering order of Lenin Red Banner Academy named for V.V. Kuybyshev. After the 1998 merger with the Military Engineering University of St. Petersburg it is now called the "".Marshal Semyon Budyonny Military Signals and Communications Corps Academy
The Budyonny Military Academy of Communications was created in 1932 in Leningrad. It is named after Semyon Budyonny. It trains the Russian military's future signals and communications experts.Marshal Semyon Timoshenko NBC Protection Military Academy
was established in 1932 in Moscow. It is named after Semyon Timoshenko. Its duties are for the training of officers and NCOs in chemical warfare and defence. It is located in Kostroma in Kostroma Oblast and has now opened its doors to engineering cadets as well.General of the Army A. V. Khrulev Military Logistics Academy
The Military Logistics Academy was created in 1918 in Leningrad. It trains officers and NCO's for the various Armed Forces rear services and the Army Transportation Force, a part of the rear services. One of its graduates is Igor Levitin, a former Russian Minister of Transport.Sergei Kirov Military Medical Academy
The Kirov Military Medical Academy (Военно-медицинская академия им. С. М. Кирова in Saint Petersburg was established in 1798. Senior medical staff are trained for the Armed Forces and conduct research in military medical services. By contemporary standards, it is a full-scale medical school complete with a network of teaching and research clinics and affiliated hospitals. Graduates are commissioned as officers with medical doctor credentials. The institution also provides advanced training for mid-career military medical doctors and trains graduate students to Ph.D. level.Military schools, institutes of the Ground Forces, MOD etc
Kuybyshev Military Medical Academy
In 1939 a military medical academy was established in Kuybyshev, since 1991 renamed Samara Military-Medical Institute. Subordinate to Ministry of Defence for a period.[Moscow Higher Military Command School]
Established on 21 December 1917 as "Moscow 1st Machine-Gunners School", this school trains the future officers of the Russian Army in strategy, tactics and command skills, with a four-year study period for which graduates are commissioned Russian Army lieutenants.The school's cadets are also known as the Kremlin Cadets or the Kremlovtsy, for in December 1919 after just two years of operations, the Red Army took over the school administration, with headquarters and campus then at the Moscow Kremlin. It later became the "WPRA 1st Soviet High Military School All-Russian Central Executive Committee" and from 1925 to 1935, mounted the guard at Lenin's Mausoleum. The Kremlin was its campus until it moved to Moscow's Lefortovo District, giving way to the Kremlin Regiment, nowadays the President of Russia's escort and historical regiment.
In 1937, the school became the "ACEC" Moscow Military School and later the "Moscow Military School of Infantry Training". It received the first of its 3 order medals, the Order of the Red Banner in 1938. In joining the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, and the Second World War's Eastern Front it contributed to the defence of the Moscow Region, as well as other wars. In October 1945, 5 months after the allied victory in Europe, it moved to Kuzminki District in Moscow.
In 1958, it became the Moscow High Command Training School "Supreme Soviet of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic". It received its two other awards, the Order of Lenin in 1965 and the Order of the October Revolution in 1978. In 1998, it became the Moscow Military School and was transformed into its present name in 2017.
[Khabarovsk] Military Commanders Training Academy
This training center in Khabarovsk 19 miles from the Chinese border serves military officers stationed in the Eastern Military District, with a program to enhance their experience and command capability.St. Petersburg Railway Troops Military Transportation Institute
Located in historic St. Petersburg, the birthplace of the Russian railway industry, this institute trains all personnel of the world's oldest railway security force, the Russian Railway Troops, a part since 2004 of the rear services, in maintaining and securing one of the world's largest and oldest railway systems.Ryazan Guards Airborne Higher Command School "General of the Army Vasily Margelov"
The Ryazan Guards Higher Airborne Command School is one of Russia's oldest military academies, having been established in 1918. The academy serves since 1941 as the premier academy and advanced training center of the Russian Airborne Troops, named first in honor of the Komsomol and at present after one of the greatest commanders of the Airborne Troops, Vasily Margelov, who was instrumental in the modernization and capability upgrades done to the service in the 1950s, as well as for its full independence as a separate arm directly responsible to the Defence Ministry.Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms Command School "Marshal of the Soviet Union K. K. Rokossovsky"
The Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms Command School was established in 1940 as the Vladivostok Infantry School. It moved to Blagoveshchensk in 1949, and currently trains officers for motor rifle units, and for the Naval Infantry. It is the only military academy in Russia to offer command specialisations in mountain and arctic warfare.St. Petersburg Military Engineering-Technical University
In Soviet times this was named the "Leningrad Nikolaevsky Military Engineering Technical Institute of the Armed Forces of the USSR".Nikolaevsky Military Engineering-Technical Institute of the Armed Forces, now the Military Engineering-Technical University is in Saint Petersburg located in its own historical sites near to Engineers Castle, Summer Garden, the Suvorov Museum, Tauride Palace and Smolny Convent. It is one of Saint Petersburg's oldest military engineering schools, its history as a Higher learning institution began in 1810, training officers for service in the Navy, Russian engineering troops and other arms and services. This engineering school trained and graduated Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
[Yekaterinburg] Force Command School of Artillery
Located in Yekaterinburg, it serves as the officer command training center of the Russian Ground Forces Artillery and Rocket Forces. Its mandate is for the enhanced and improved training of artillery officers in command and control.Volsk High Rear Military School
Located in Volsk, the school trains the various personnel of the Russian Armed Forces' rear services.[St. Petersburg Military College of Physical Fitness and Sports]
Established in 1909 and known in the 1930s as the Leningrad Military Academy of Physical Fitness "General Staff of the Armed Forces", the academy serves as the training hub for military sportsmen of the Russian Armed Forces. Its graduates include many medalists in the Olympic Games who were also active servicemen, and medalists in the Military World Games.It was affiliated to both the Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health and the Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism, and serves as the training hub for military sportsmen of the Russian Armed Forces. Its graduates include many medalists in the Olympic Games who were also active servicemen, and medalists in the Military World Games. Based in Saint Petersburg, its colours carries two awards of the Order of the Red Banner for its invaluable contribution in sports development.
Suvorov">Alexander Suvorov">Suvorov Moscow Military Music College "General Lieutenant [Valery Khalilov]"
The Moscow Military Music College is a spin-off of the Suvorov Military School. Its mission was and still is to train future Soviet Army and Russian Army and Air Force military musicians and conductors and is famous for its Corps of Drums, a participant in the Moscow Victory Parade of 1945 and a regular participant in Revolution Day, Victory Day, and until 1966 May Day military parades. The corps is led by a drum major. The corps's instrumentation includes snare drums, fifes, trumpets, glockenspiels and during occasions, bass drums, tenor drums and fanfare bugles. A Turkish crescent from the college was used as its symbol in the Revolution Day and Victory Day parades from 1975 to 1990, later replaced in 1995 by the college's color guard squad carrying the collegiate Regimental Color. It also has its own nationally and internationally famous training band wing that perform in various military tattoos in Russia and various European countries.Just in time for its 80th anniversary the "Valery Khalilov" honorific title was bestowed on December 26, 2016, by the Minister of Defence General of the Army Sergei Shoygu - a day after the tragic crash that killed Khalilov and 91 others off Sochi while the Alexandrov Ensemble was on its way to perform for Russian troops deployed in Syria. The decision was made public by the spokesperson of the MoD Major General Igor Kinashenkov.
Other Ground-associated Officer Commissioning Schools
These included the Leningrad, Orenburg, and Poltava Higher Anti-Aircraft Missile Command Schools of the Ground Forces, and the Smolensk Higher Anti-Aircraft Missile Engineering School.Also the Kharkov Guards Higher Tank Command School, plus Tashkent, Ulyanovsk VTKUs.
Military academies of the Missile Forces
Peter the Great Military Academy of the Strategic Missile Troops">Peter the Great Military Academy of the Strategic Missile Forces">Peter the Great Military Academy of the Strategic Missile Troops
The Academy descended from Mikhailovskaya Artillery Academy of Imperial Russia created in 1820 in St. Petersburg. The Dzerzhinsky Military Academy was created in 1932 as F.E. Dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy of the "Red Army from the "Artillery Department and the Powder and Explosives" section of the Military Technical Academy's chemistry department that was disbanded at the time.Dzerzhinsky Academy was moved from Leningrad to Moscow in 1958, the year before the Strategic Rocket Forces were formed. Now named the Dzerzhinsky Missile Force Academy, its main facility was 'located at Kitayskiy Proyezd 9/5, within a block' of the Rossiya Hotel off Red Square. Other sources report that it was in the historical building of the Moscow Orphanage. Officers in command positions in the Strategic Missile Troops would seek admission to this academy. Information about this academy was highly classified. Its two major faculties were "command" and "engineering." The Academy was renamed after Peter the Great in 1997, and its Commandant is now Colonel General Yuriy F. Kirillov.
Military academies of the Air Forces, Air Defence Forces and Space Forces
Yuri Gagarin Military Air Academy
The Gagarin Military Air Academy is located at Monino, northeast of Moscow, in an area closed to foreigners, nearby the Central Air Force Museum. Almost all the senior officers in the Soviet Air Force have attended this academy. It is charged with the preparation of "command cadres of various aviation specialties and is a research center for working out problems of operational art of the Air Force and tactics of branches and types of aviation." Part of the mandate involves developing new techniques in the operational use of the military aircraft.Marshal [Leonid Govorov] Air Defence and Radio Engineering Academy
The “Marshal of the Soviet Union L.A. Govorov Air Defence Radio Engineering Academy” was first established in Moscow in 1941 as a subsidiary of the “Frunze Military Academy” and then moved to Kharkiv in 1946. This graduate school trained commissioned officers of the Air Defence Force in radars, aerospace defence and surface-to-air missile sites, and command and control and communications facilities. Its graduates were granted an equivalent of the Master of Electrical or Systems Engineering degree. Also about 50 officers were annually graduating with a Kandidat Nauk degree. Of the total of some 300 faculty members, more than 10 per cent held the prestigious post-doctoral Doktor Nauk degree. Faculty members were highly engaged in applied research; their textbooks and research publications were known throughout the Soviet Union.This school was re-organized into the “Kharkiv Military University” of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 1992, soon after the collapse of the USSR. According to the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers’ directive #433 the Military University and the Air Force Institute combined to become the Kharkiv National University of the Ukrainian Air Force.
Marshal [Georgy Zhukov] Command Academy of the Air Defence Forces
[Alexander Mozhaysky Military Space Engineering Academy]
Also in St. Petersburg, this is the academy responsible for the training of the future officers and NCOs of the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces, the armed forces' youngest branch of service. It was most recently renamed the Military Space Engineering Academy in November 2002.Yaroslavl Higher Military Air Defence School
Located in Yaroslavl, this academy trains officers and NCOs of the air defence component of the Russian Air Force in proper treatment and handling of air defence rocket artillery systems.Other Air-Associated Officer Commissioning Schools
Shelton lists a total of 140 officer commissioning schools, drawn from a KZ list of 17 January 1980. That total included 15 Air Defence Forces schools, and 24 Air Forces, the Khar'kov Higher Military Aviation Command School of Signals, five three-year technical secondary schools, six Air Force engineering schools, and the Kurgan Higher Military-Political Aviation School.Military Air Combat Training Centers
Military Air Combat Training Centers do a great deal of scientific and technical work in mastering new aircraft, equipment, and air combat tactics for the Russian Air Forces.- Centre of Frontline Aviation, Lipetsk Air Base
- Centre of Air Defence Aviation, Savasleika
- Centre of Naval Aviation of the Russian Navy, Ostrov Air Base near Pskov
- Centre of Long Range Aviation, Dyagilevo
Naval Educational Institutions