Military Academy of the German Armed Forces

The Military Academy of the German Armed Forces (Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr, FüAkBw) is the General Staff College (Senior Military Academy) of the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, established in 1957 as the successor of the Prussian Military Academy, founded in 1810. Since 1958 it is located in Hamburg. Its motto is "Mens agitat molem", "Mind moves Matter". Being the leading educational institution of the German armed forces, the academy is internationally renowned for its excellence. The academy educates the future elite of not only the German armed forces but also of other member states of the European Union and the NATO.

Education
The National General/Admiral Staff Officer Course (NGASOC) is considered to be the most demanding course. The two-year course is attended usually by 100 national and international participants from Army, Air Force, Navy, Central Medical Service and by members of the Bundeswehr Geoinformation Service. It educates and qualifies the future general/admiral staff officers. A particular characteristic of the course is the variety of its educational content and its focus on consistently out-of-the-box thinking. As a result, high-level military executives including the German Ministry of Defence refer the to course as being a think tank.

The International General/Admiral Staff Officer Course (IGASOC) prepares international officers from non-NATO member states for general staff officer functions. As of 2014, about 2,400 officers from 120 nations, including 25% German students, have been educated at the IGASOC in Hamburg since its inception in 1962. The student body comprises two-thirds of international field-grade officers from non-NATO member states from all continents. Almost one-third of the students are German field-grade officers in the rank of major, lieutenant commander, lieutenant colonel or commander.

The Field Officer Basic Course (FOBC) is split into two units. Unit A and B are planning and organizational units focussing on the design and delivery of the Field Officer Basic Course (FOBC). For all line officers in the rank of Captain (Army/Air Force) or Lieutenant (Navy), this course is the first part of their field-grade officer training.

The academy also offers a series of Certified Short Courses (Seminare) for active members of the German armed forces as well as the German Army Reserve on military field-grade officer-level. These short courses are clustered in five so-called Training Fields and run between a few days up to three weeks on a full-time basis and include on-campus accommodation. Topics covered range from building leadership competencies, complexity management skills, and the relationships and interactions between the state, society, and the military. Alongside military personnel, the academy also admits a small number of selected members from the civilian/business sector in leading positions subject to availability.

Alumni
Between 1962 and 1997, ca. 800 officers from more than 80 nations were educated at the academy. Many former students have been appointed to high military positions in their respective countries after their studies.


 * Pakistani Major General Raza Muhammad
 * Pakistani General Khalid Shameem Wynne
 * Sri Lankan Major General Devinda Kalupahana
 * Dutch Brigadier General Leanne van den Hoek
 * Pakistani Commodore Shahid Azmat Wain
 * Pakistan Brigadier Humair Mehmood Ghazi
 * Pakistan Brigadier Tariq Ghafoor
 * Norwegian Rear admiral Atle Torbjørn Karlsvik
 * Norwegian Chief of Defence, General Harald Sunde
 * Germany Commander Joint Force Command Brunssum, General Hans-Lothar Domröse
 * Germany (former) Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, General Klaus Naumann
 * Indonesian Armed Forces General Faisal Tanjung.
 * Indonesian Air Force Air Marshal Herman Prayitno.
 * Former Commander of Turkish Gendarmerie, Eşref Bitlis.