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Sudan
Training
The SPAF established numerous institutions for training its military
personnel. Foreign military observers believed that the training
offered was of a professional caliber within the limitations of
available resources. The Military College at Wadi Sayyidna, near
Omdurman, had been Sudan's primary source of officer training
since it opened in 1948. A two-year program, emphasizing study
in political and military science and physical training, led to
a commission as a second lieutenant in the SPAF. In the late 1970s
and early 1980s, an average of 120 to 150 officers were graduated
from the academy each year. In the late 1950s, roughly 60 graduated
each year, peaking to more than 500 in early 1972 as a result
of mobilization brought on by the first southern rebellion. Students
from other Arab and African countries were also trained at the
Military College, and in 1982 sixty Ugandans were graduated as
part of a Sudanese contribution to rebuilding the Ugandan army
after Amin's removal from power. It was announced in 1990 that
600 members of the National Islamic Front's associated militia,
the Popular Defence Forces (PDF), had been selected to attend
the Military College to help fill the ranks of the officer corps
depleted by resignations or dismissals (see Paramilitary Groups
, this ch.).
The Military College's course of study, while rigorous, was reportedly
weak in scientific and technical instruction. Junior officers
were, however, given opportunities to continue their education
at the University of Khartoum. Many officers also studied abroad.
It was estimated that at least 50 percent had received some schooling
in Egypt. Others were sent to the United States, Britain (pilots
and mechanics), Germany (helicopter pilots), and Middle Eastern
countries. Most high naval officers had been trained at the Yugoslav
naval academy; other naval officers were detailed for training
in the states of the Persian Gulf. Opportunities for training
abroad were greatly curtailed, however, as a result of international
disapproval of the policies of the Bashir government.
Since the early 1970s, the Staff College in Omdurman has graduated
fifty-five to sixty majors and lieutenant colonels annually with
masters' degrees in military science. Officers from other Arab
countries--Jordan, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates--attended,
as well as some Palestinians. Since 1981 the High Military Academy
in Omdurman, a war college designed to prepare colonels and brigadier
generals for more senior positions, offered a six-month course
on national security issues. The academy was commissioned to produce
strategic analyses for consideration by the Bashir government.
In addition to the academies, the SPAF also operated a variety
of technical schools for junior and noncommissioned officers,
including infantry, artillery, communications, ordnance, engineering,
and armored schools, all in the vicinity of Khartoum. An air force
training center at Wadi Sayyidna Air Base was constructed with
Chinese help to train technicians in aircraft maintenance, ground
control, and other skills. In the army, recruitment and basic
training of enlisted men were not centralized but were the responsibility
of each division and regional command.
Data as of June 1991
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