Accademia Militare di Modena
The Accademia Militare di Modena ( German Militärakademie (in) Modena ) is a military institution that trains prospective officers of the Italian Army and the Carabinieri . The training is usually continued at officer schools in Turin (Heer) and Rome (Carabinieri).
The headquarters of the Accademia Militare are located in the Palazzo Ducale in downtown Modena .
history
On January 1, 1678, in Turin, Maria Johanna von Savoyen opened the knight's academy Reale Accademia di Savoja, long planned by Duke Charles Emanuel II . Initially only young people from the European aristocracy were accepted there and from 1756 trained exclusively as officers. At that time it was not a university , but a cadet institute whose general educational content corresponded to that of high schools . After Napoleon Bonaparte's Italian campaign , the academy had to close in 1798. In the course of the restoration , it was reopened in Turin on November 2, 1815 under the name Regia Accademia Militare , whereby the aforementioned noble privilege was omitted.
In the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont, application schools , i.e. special training facilities for the various types of weapons , were gradually created for the military training of officers : in 1739 an artillery and fortress construction school was established in Turin under the fortress builder Ignazio Giuseppe Bertola Roveda , in 1823 a cavalry school in Venaria Reale (the 1849 was relocated to Pinerolo ), the infantry school in Turin in 1850 (as an officer training school from 1862 in Ivrea , then in Parma ), in 1862 the medical school in Florence.
In the Duchy of Modena a military academy and fortress building school was founded in 1757, which existed until 1772. After Napoleon established the Cisalpine Republic in Northern Italy in 1797 , he founded a military school for engineering troops and artillery in Modena the following year , which trained officers until the end of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1814. Duke Francis IV established a military academy again in Modena in 1821, which remained active until the revolutionary year of 1848 . In the course of the unification of Italy under the leadership of the House of Savoy , in 1859 the Piedmontese and then Italian army set up another infantry officers' college in Modena.
In the following years, the military school in Modena took over the training of officer candidates for the infantry and cavalry (from 1937 also the carabinieri ), while the military academy in Turin was responsible for the candidates for the artillery and the pioneers. Not until 1923 was this officially renamed: in Modena with the Military Academy of Infantry and Cavalry, in Turin with the Military Academy of Artillery and Pioneers. They carried on the traditions of the academies of 1757 and 1678. In addition, there were officers' schools ( scuole d'applicazione ) in Parma (infantry), Pinerolo (cavalry) and Turin (artillery and pioneers ). They took on the second, practice-oriented part of officer training. Separate schools were created for reserve and temporary officers, especially under fascism .
In autumn 1943 the academies in Modena and Turin were closed. The building of the military academy in Turin, erected from 1675 onwards, was completely destroyed by Allied air raids. The pillars of this building have stood in the Palazzo Ducale in Modena since 1960 .
In 1944, another military academy was established in Lecce in Apulia , which moved into the ducal palace in Modena in 1947. In the years that followed, the military academy in Modena took over the first, joint part of the officers' training, which was now at university level. The second part was again carried out at the officers' schools of the military branches. In 1951 these technical schools for officers ( scuole d'applicazione d'arma ) were concentrated in Turin and the second part of officer training was brought together there under the traditional name Scuola di Applicazione 1976. The Scuola di Applicazione was housed in the Palazzo dell'Arsenale , which was built in 1736 . In addition to the officers' school in Turin, there are also courses at the troop schools (artillery, engineers, infantry, army aviators, etc.), which are, however, attended by all ranks.
The Modena Military Academy claims to be a direct successor to the Turin Academy of 1678, making it the world's oldest still existing military academy.
coat of arms
The main shield is split and shows the symbols of the Modena Military Academies (crossed lance and gladius under two silver stars on a red background) and Turin (crowned black eagle on a gold background). The upper middle shield represents the founding families of the two academies ( Este and Savoyen-Nemours ), the lower middle shield the city of Modena (blue cross on a gold background) and the Piedmont region (silver cross on a red background). The republican wall crown hovers over the coat of arms , underneath a banner with the motto una acies (“closed row”).
Training in Modena
At the Military Academy in Modena, the officer candidates of the Italian Army and the Carabinieri are trained for two years, in collaboration with the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia . The so-called Bologna Process with its 3 + 2 model has led to some shifts in the area of officer training in recent years. The classic Italian university course with its two-year basic course and the three-year main course could at the time be well combined with the two-year military training in Modena and Turin, with more time for the degree in the fifth year. The reversal of this model (3 + 2 instead of 2 + 3) has resulted in a degree usually starting in Modena and being completed in Turin or Rome. However, since the participating universities have organized themselves accordingly and created a so-called inter-university bachelor's degree , this problem could be solved well.
Exceptions apply to officer candidates in the engineering corps who study for three years in Modena and then do their master’s degree in Turin after another two years , as well as for prospective veterinarians , pharmacists and chemists who complete their five-year degree entirely in Modena. Budding human medicine students study in Modena for six years. The latter were trained until 2000 at the now disbanded medical academy of the armed forces in Florence .
The first year includes military training as a group leader , the second year includes a hunting course in the Modenese Apennines .
The military academy is located in the city's ducal palace. There are also other academy training facilities in the city.
An old ceremony called Mak P 100 takes place every year at the military academy . This heralds the last 100 days of officer training in Modena. The ceremony comes from the old Piedmontese military academy in Turin. In 1840 the cadet Emanuele Balbo Bertone di Sambuy is said to have exclaimed in the Piedmontese dialect: “Mac pi tre ani!” - “Only three more years!”. It soon became customary to announce the remainder of the training period in this way. Eventually, with reference to the past 100 days, custom became an institution .
Further education
After completing their two-year training in Modena, the new Carabinieri officers go to the Carabinieri officers' school in Rome. There they are completing the third year of the bachelor’s degree that began in Modena, followed by a two-year master’s degree in law . The army lieutenants go to the Army Officers' College ( Scuola di Applicazione ) in Turin. There they receive specialist training in the area of their respective military type , which is supplemented by attending military schools and internships. In addition, the studies started in Modena must be completed and then a master’s degree. In cooperation with the University of Turin , special master’s courses have been set up with a focus on political science , infrastructure , logistics , information technology and economics , which are also open to civilians.
The Scuola di Applicazione is also the Istituto di Studi Militari dell'Esercito ("Army Institute for Military Studies") and as such offers numerous advanced training courses. Officer cadets from special fields who come directly from civil universities are also trained here. In addition, the institute also takes on the staff officer course and parts of the general staff training that were previously carried out at the command academy of the army ( Scuola di Guerra ; today: Centro per la Simulazione e la Validazione dell'Esercito ) in Civitavecchia . The new battle simulation center based on the German model remains in Civitavecchia.
General staff officers may still attend the Armed Forces Command Academy ( Centro Alti Studi per la Difesa - CASD ) in Rome.
The Army Training Command is located at the officers' school in Turin. Subordinate to this are the Scuola di Applicazione in Turin, the military academy in Modena, the non-commissioned officer school in Viterbo , the training brigade for men in Capua , the cadet schools (military high schools of the army) in Milan ( Teuliè ) and Naples ( Nunziatella ) as well as the foreign language school of the army in Perugia . The military schools of the individual branches of the armed forces are integrated into the operational area.
coat of arms
The coat of arms of the officers 'college in Turin essentially represents the predecessor organizations, i.e. the former officers' schools of the individual military branches. On the escutcheon is the first, four-part field for the former officer training school for infantry and cavalry, the second field for the artillery and fortress construction school founded in 1739, the third field for the former officer training school of the engineering troops and the fourth field with the bull for the city of Turin where today's school is located.
