revistaieee7

Journal of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies Núm. 7 / 2016
THOUGHTS ON MILITARY EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN
SPAIN
MILITARY EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN SPAIN
Military education encompasses the provision of training and further and
higher education in national defence. 1 The training -of officers, non-commissioned
officers (NCOs) and privates -includes military and technical
training with the ultimate goal of preparing and equipping them to perform their
professional duties. Unlike the previous military education system- provided for in
Law 17/89 on the Regime for Professional Military Personnel 2 and in Law 17/99 on
the Regime for Personnel of the Armed Forces 3 whereby military graduates obtained
equivalent or comparable qualifications to those in the mainstream education system,
the new law provides for the obtainment of official qualifications under the latter system:
a bachelor’s degree in the case of officers, 4 a higher diploma in vocational training
in the case of NCOs and an intermediate diploma in vocational training in the case
of privates.
For its part, further education and higher studies in National Defence provide continuous
training and the ongoing development of skills throughout the serviceman’s
military career, both of which are geared towards learning and knowledge management.
5 Further education aims to prepare the serviceman to obtain different specialities
that complement his main speciality and others that enable him to adapt or
redirect his professional background in order to perform tasks in other fields, and to
expand or update the skills needed to perform his duties. In this sense, further education
includes both qualifications from the general education system and other, specifically
military ones. 6 Finally, higher education in National Defence addresses subjects
1 Article 43.2 of Law 39/2007 on the Military Career, Boletín Oficial del Estado, no. 278, p. 47347.
2 Law 17/1989 governing the Regime for Professional Military Personnel, Boletín Oficial del Estado,
no. 172, 1989, pp. 23129-23147.
3 Law 17/1999 governing the Regime for Armed Forces Personnel, Boletín Oficial del Estado, no.
119, 1999, pp. 18751-18797.
4 Industrial Engineering and Operations Research in the case of the Ground Troops and Air Force,
and Mechanical Engineering in the case of the Navy.
5 Article 1 of Royal Decree 339/2015, governing further and higher education in National Defence,
Boletín Oficial del Ministerio de Defensa, no. 85, 2015, p. 9709.
6 Royal Decree 339/2015, governing further and higher education in National Defence, op. cit.,
Article 12, p. 9715.
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