South African Army College

src: www.dod.mil.za

South Africa Army College is a training unit of the South African Army.

Video South African Army College

History

The origin of military training in South Africa

South African military training can be traced back to 1786 when Militere Kweekskool was founded by the Dutch East India Company to develop local cadets, but fell for lack of funds.

Under the South African Defense Act of 1912, allowances were made for the South African Military High School. Two branches were originally established namely the General Branch or the military school and the Musketry Branch or the musketry school.

The two branches were originally housed in Bloemfontein in the Free State. The military school received its first intake in the same year and in 1913 the musketry school started the first shotgun instruction course. The musketry school ended up becoming the Weapons Training Branch of the College. Another school was opened for signal training, also in Bloemfontein. All schools were eventually placed in Tempe and placed under one command.

At this stage the unit became known as the South African Military School and now consists of:

• General Military Instructions,
• Musketry,
• Signal and
• Medical Training.

World War First Impact

In the WW1 outbreak, training staff were transferred for mobilization training at Potchefstroom and some served overseas.

Developing in 20's and 30's

In the 1920s the unit was re-established at Roberts Heights near Pretoria and renamed the South African Military School. In 1923, a commissioning course was held, so the school was declared a College.

Air Force Connection

In addition to the wings, the Air Staff Wing was opened for the development of personnel for the newly emerging South African Air Force, which did not have its own training institute at that stage.

Training expansion

In 1939, six other branches were created:

• Physical Exercise
• Disguise,
• Armor,
• Chemical Warfare,
• Regiment and
• Command

World War 2

Approximately 150,000 students from all ranks received training at the Army High School during the war. Some branches also became stand-alone schools and moved to locations throughout South Africa. For example, Signals move Potchefstroom into a Signal Training Center. However, by the end of the war, several branches such as the Chemical Warfare branch had been disbanded.

Post-War Developmental Training

Branches such as the Administration and Ordinance began in the 1950s while the joint training between the Army and the Air Force ended with the establishment of the Air Force School. In 1953, the Weapons Training Branch redesigned the Infantry School.

In the 1960s, branches of Intelligence, Nuclear, Biology and Chemistry were also established. The Infantry School has moved to Oudtshoorn at the Cape.

Rename

In 1968, the Army Chief changed the name of the unit to South African Higher Education in order to fully develop the now unique Army character.

Maps South African Army College

Insignia

The wildebeest as a College symbol has been adopted around 1924. Flash shoulder developed around 1963 featuring the wildebeest in blue and maroon roundel. The Wildebeest concept comes from a trophy given to the Military School from Rifles Mounted.

Era SADF Dress Insignia

src: i.ytimg.com

Leadership

src: www.dod.mil.za

Note

src: saarmybandcapetown.files.wordpress.com

References

Source of the article : Wikipedia