National Defence University

The Finnish National Defence University (Finnish: Maanpuolustuskorkeakoulu, MPKK, Swedish: Försvarshögskolan) is a military university located in Helsinki. The university trains officers for the Finnish Defence Forces and the Finnish Border Guard. The main campus is located in Santahamina, Helsinki.

Prior to 2007, the school referred to itself, in English, as the National Defence College.

History

The first army officer school in Finland, then part of Sweden, was Haapaniemen sotakoulu, which was founded by Georg Magnus Sprengtporten in 1780 in Kuopio and relocated to Rantasalmi in 1781. Initially, it was established to train officers for the Savo Brigade of the Swedish Army, but soon it began to recruit cadets from all of Finland. The school continued operation even after the Finnish War in 1809, where Finland was ceded to the Russian Empire. However, in 1818, a fire broke out in the building, and the school was moved to Hamina to become the Hamina Cadet School.

The Hamina Cadet School was trained officers for the Russian Empire. It was abolished on July 24, 1903 under the influence of various orders given during the first period of repression of Finland by the Russian Empire.

After independence, the Finnish officer training was always divided among three schools until 1992: initial education at the Kadettikoulu ("Cadet School", abbreviated KADK, founded in 1919), General Staff Officer Training at the Sotakorkeakoulu ("War College", founded in 1924), as well as continuous training at the Taistelukoulu ("Battle School", founded in 1927). From the beginning of 1993, all of these schools were merged into the National Defence University, one of the largest colleges of higher education for officer education.

In 2001, the Maanpuolustusopisto ((a military junior college), known as NDI, national defence institute)) in Lappeenranta was decommissioned, but the school was immediately repurposed to provide freshman and army training for the National Defence University, as the Army Academy (Finnish: Maasotakoulu, "Land Warfare School").

Academics

National Defence University awards the degrees of Bachelor's, Master and Doctor in military science. The defining feature of the University is the fact that it is the only institution the degrees of which qualify for a permanent appointment as a non-staff corps officer of the Finnish Defence Forces or the Finnish Border Guard. This close relation with the Finnish military shapes and informs all academic life of the University.

Undergraduate studies

Applicants to the bachelor's program need to be Finnish citizens under 26 years of age with a completed secondary education and a conscript service. They need to have at least a reserve NCO's training and a complete secondary education. Those who are not reserve officers are selected with the conditions that they pass reserve officer training prior to the start of their studies.

Bachelor of military science is awarded to students after three years of full-time studies in a residential program. The studies encompass 180 ECTS worth of academic and 30 ECTS of military-professional subjects. During their studies, the students receive accommodation, uniform, health care and nutrition free of charge, and are paid a per diem of 48 euros for miscellaneous expenses.

The curriculum of the bachelor's degree is based on the understanding of the military sciences as consisting of five basic subjects: leadership, military pedagogy, military technology and art of war, the last of which is divided to strategy, military history and operational art and tactics. The degree does not feature a major subject but has program and branch specific studies. There are four bachelor's programs (army, navy, air force ground services and pilot officer) with a total of 19 branches that mostly correspond to the branches of each service. Students destined as Border Guard officers study in the Border Guard branch of the program of their operational environment. The students are servicemen under military discipline in the rank of cadet. As officer training is a prerequisite for attending the bachelor's degree program, cadets are considered equivalent to second lieutenants in the military rank system and chain of command.

All graduates of the bachelor's program are promoted to lieutenant and appointed as professional officers in the Finnish Defence Forces or in the Finnish Border Guard.

Post-graduate studies

Typically, after five years' service, the junior officers return to National Defence University for their Master of military science degree. This program takes two years of full-time studies, 120 ECTS. The military students are officers and enjoy full pay and benefits during their studies. However, the officers who are aircraft pilots take their master's degree immediately after the bachelor's, but as they study part-time in conjunction with their flying service, their studies take seven years to complete. The studies have a service- and branch-specific part. There is, however, also a civilian master's program in interagency cooperation, mainly targeted to current or prospective civil servants, and aiming to produce security experts for civilian authorities. The students in the civilian program pay no tuition, and receive no qualifications for the military officer's profession.

Departments

The University is divided into colleges, three academic departments and other units. While the departments are responsible for the instruction and research, the other units have national-level special duties.

• War College (Sotakorkeakoulu), responsible for Senior Command Course, the Senior Staff Officer Course and the Chief of branch course
• Tactical Command and Staff College (Taistelukoulu), responsible for Master's degree program
• Military Academy (Kadettikoulu), responsible for Bachelor's degree program
• Department of Leadership and Military Pedagogy
• Department of Warfare
• Department of Military Technology
• Department of Academic Affairs
• Defence Language Center
• National Defence Courses
• Finnish Defence Forces International Center
• Military Museum

Locations

Service branch schools

The following establishments are responsible for the branch- or service-specific education of the students:

• Air Force Academy, Tikkakoski
• Army Academy, Lappeenranta
• Armour School, Hämeenlinna
• Artillery School, Niinisalo
• Engineer School, Lappeenranta
• Infantry School, Lappeenranta
• Signals School, Riihimäki
• Naval Academy, Helsinki
• Border and Coast Guard Academy, Espoo & Imatra (part of Finnish Border Guard)
• Logistics School, Riihimäki (part of Defence Forces Logistics Command)

Besides these, Military Museum of Finland, National Defence Courses departments and the National Defence University Library operate under National Defence University.

Эх сурвалж: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)