Egyptian Air Academy

The Egyptian Air Academy (Arabic: الكلية الجوية المصرية) is a college in Bilbeis, Sharqia Governorate, Egypt, tasked with training officer candidates for the Egyptian Air Force. Established in 1951, the Egyptian Air Academy is one of seven military academies administered by the various branches of the Egyptian Armed Forces. The current director of the Egyptian Air Academy is Air Vice-Marshal Abd-El Moneam Hassan Shouman.

In addition to Egyptian Air Force personnel, the academy has also trained cadets from a large number of other Arab countries, as well as cadets from Malaysia and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.

History
Formal air force training in Egypt dates to 1938 when a forerunner to the Egyptian Air Academy was established on the grounds of the Royal Air Force-administered Almaza station near present-day Cairo International Airport. Resources provided to this school included instructors, technicians, training aircraft and curriculum. The first cadets were non-commissioned officers from the Egyptian Army and various police forces who were deemed medically fit for flying. This first school was divided into five "wings": Flying, Science, Technical, Cadets and Administration.

By 1951 the Almaza site had become inadequate for air force training purposes. That year a law was passed by the Kingdom of Egypt authorizing the creation of the Egyptian Air Academy near Bilbeis. Despite the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, the expulsion of British forces and the subsequent rise of the Republic of Egypt, plans for the academy remained unchanged, with construction and renovation continuing through 1961. Future Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak served as a lecturer and later as director of the Egyptian Air Academy at various times during the 1950s and 1960s

Admission and curriculum
Prospective Egyptian Air Academy cadets must be Egyptian "by heredity from forefathers," unmarried, no older than 21 have "good manners" and be "clean living." Once at the academy cadets are divided into "pilot" and "navigator" groups. Curriculum includes theoretical and practical flying, administration and humanities, computer science and foreign languages.

Upon graduation both pilots and navigators receive bachelor's degrees, commissions in the Egyptian Air Force and certifications in their respective fields of study. Graduating pilots also receive an internationally-recognized commercial pilot's license.