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Ethiopia Training
Systematic military training in Ethiopia began in 1919
when, as regent, Tafari Mekonnen appointed a small group of
Russian officers and some Ethiopians who had served in the
British-led King's African Rifles to train Ethiopian troops.
Some Ethiopian officers subsequently received instruction in
France at the Saint-Cyr military academy. Between 1929 and
1935, a Belgian military mission trained the Imperial
Bodyguard. In 1934 a Swedish delegation of five officers was
invited to Ethiopia to open the Haile Selassie I Military
Training Center at Holeta (also known as Genet Military
School). Although this training helped Ethiopia field an
army to resist the Italian invasion, the development of a
modern army started only after liberation from Italian
occupation in 1941, with British advisers primarily
responsible for the training. Under a 1942 convention,
Britain engaged in a ten-year military training mission to
Ethiopia. In 1946, however, Addis Ababa diluted British
influence somewhat by accepting a new team of Swedish
military advisers. In 1953 a United States Military
Assistance Advisory Group arrived in Ethiopia to train
various branches of the Ethiopian security forces. Four
years later, an Indian military mission came to establish
and manage the Haile Selassie I Military Academy at Harer.
In 1991 there were five major military schools in Ethiopia,
including the Harer Military Academy (formerly known as the
Haile Selassie I Military Academy), the Holeta Military
Training Center, the Air Force Training Center at Debre
Zeyit, and the Naval College in Asmera.
In October 1987, the Ethiopian government announced the
opening of the Armed Forces Staff Academy near Addis Ababa.
According to an official statement, the academy's student
body included senior officers (generals and colonels) from
all branches of the armed forces. During the academy's yearlong course, officers studied and conducted research on
national defense issues. Initially, Soviet personnel staffed
the academy's faculty; however, Addis Ababa planned to
replace them eventually with Ethiopian instructors.
The Harer Military Academy provided a three-year academic
and military course for officer cadets. Military instruction
included tactics, political indoctrination, engineering,
intelligence, and security. Academic courses included
physical and social sciences, public administration, and
foreign languages, such as Russian and English. Graduates
received commissions as second lieutenants, and they were
eligible to receive the equivalent of a bachelor's degree
after completing one year of additional study at Addis Ababa
University. The Holeta Military Training Center also
conferred commissions as second lieutenants on students who
had completed courses lasting from six to nine months that
were devoted to military subjects. Holeta's officer
candidates normally were promising noncommissioned officers
(NCOs) or volunteers who lacked a secondary school
education.
Before 1974, Harer graduates belonged to a "military
aristocracy," which monopolized high-ranking army positions.
By contrast, Holeta graduates were reputed to be the
products of an inferior education and were considered the
"poor cousins" of the officer corps. Few of them ever rose
higher than the middle ranks. But after the 1974 revolution,
Holeta graduates began to establish their dominance over the
army and expelled many Harer graduates, including those who
had been members of various armed forces committees at the
beginning of the revolution.
Although the two officer training installations had
maintained separate facilities and programs, they merged
after 1974 and were subsequently operated as branches of the
Genet Military Academy. This training complex, initially
staffed by Soviet and Cuban instructors, also incorporated
advanced infantry, armor, artillery, and communications
schools for officers.
The Air Force Training Center at Debre Zeyit offered cadets
a four-year course of study and training. Officer
candidates, all of whom were volunteers, underwent four
months of basic military training and, upon entering the
academy, signed a ten-year service contract. Separate
curricula led to degrees in aeronautical engineering,
electrical engineering, and administration. Graduates
received commissions as second lieutenants. Those selected
as pilots attended a flight training program at Dire Dawa.
In 1984 Dornier, the West German aircraft manufacturer,
provided pilot training at Debre Zeyit. Pilots and mechanics
also received training in Britain. The air force operated
technical schools for enlisted personnel at Debre Zeyit that
trained aircraft maintenance and electronics technicians,
communications operators, and weapons specialists. Upon
entering these courses, which lasted eighteen months to two
years, recruits committed themselves to remain on active
duty for ten years.
Students at the Naval College in Asmera pursued a fiftytwo -month course of instruction that led to a naval science
degree and a commission in the navy. The Naval College
academic curriculum was broader than the army and air force
programs and was supplemented by training at sea. In 1984
some forty-eight ensigns, belonging to the twenty-fourth
graduating class, received diplomas; subsequent classes were
of comparable size. Some naval officers received training
abroad, notably at the naval academy in Leghorn, Italy, and
at the Leningrad naval academy in the Soviet Union. The navy
maintained training centers in the Mitsiwa area for seamen,
technicians, and marines; recruits enlisted for seven years.
Officers received specialized in-service instruction at
training centers throughout the country. Most of these
centers' staffs included Soviet, East German, and--until
Havana's 1989 decision to withdraw its forces from Ethiopia-
-Cuban advisers. These advanced schools emphasized
preparation for the supervision of technical personnel
responsible for maintaining Soviet-supplied weapons,
communications equipment, and electronic gear. Senior
officers attended a two-month command and leadership course,
which, based on Marxist-Leninist principles, stressed the
need to develop "political consciousness" in the ranks as
well as the technical mastery of weapons and equipment.
There also was instruction in international relations and
public speaking.
Army recruits underwent twelve weeks of basic training
before being assigned to line units or to technical schools
for specialized training. The largest technical school was
at Genet, where NCOs studied tactics, engineering,
logistics, and communications. Genet also offered courses in
technical and secondary-level academic subjects to a limited
number of students prior to their assignment as NCOs to
operational units. Soviet instructors at the Genet armory
school taught six-month advanced courses in weapons and
vehicle maintenance. The size of each class ranged from 100
to 150 students. Genet also was the training center for
women's army corps recruits. The government assigned
uniformed political commissars to all units for the
political education of enlisted personnel.
Data as of 1991
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