University Militias
Encyclopedia
The University Militias also known as I.M.E.C. are at present a method to fulfill compulsory military service in Spain
. In it, militiamen undergo military training
in the Reserves until the drill of the militia is professional.
Basically it consists of university-level students completing compulsory military service as officers (second lieutenant
) or non-commissioned officers (sergeant
) of the reserves, receiving military training in three periods (6 months in the first year, three months the two following years).
To be able to apply for training and to become an officer or non-commissioned officer on the reserve list the first two years of university courses that were attended must be passed and medical, physical, and psychotechnical tests commensurate to the rank must be passed.
There exists one independently for each of the three services: Army
, Navy (I.M.E.C.A.R.), and Air Force
.
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According to José Ignacio Ripol de Churruca, a Spanish reserve marine infantry lieutenant, University Militias were created as a result of the outbreak of the War of Independence
, and the consequent large number of casualties sustained among ensigns
and lieutenant
s of the officer corps of the regular army. The far-seeing person who saw the way to fill in these gaps, was Gil de Bernabé, Colonel of Artillery and Director of the Academy of Segovia
. The quarry which Gil de Bernabé used to fill these gaps among the cadre of professionals was the university students, whose intellectual training made them suitable to be assimilated quickly and, after an accelerated course, for the duties of an officer in combat.
The Colonel depended on three sources. First, the students of the University of Toledo
who facing the imminent danger of the city falling into the hands of the French left on foot, with their professors at the lead, leaving for Segovia, a city still not occupied, where it positioned itself and named itself the Literary Battalion
. Second, the Maestrantes de Ronda, good horsemen skilled in the use of the sword, and lastly, the cadets of Segovia who followed their Colonel and who it is certain, by his training, found themselves quickly taken on by the Army of the South.
Gil de Bernabé with the force of this human capital presented to the Defense Board in Cadiz
a project whose most outstanding paragraph is that which reads: " Utilize as a quarry the 15,000 bachelor, licentiate, and doctoral students and even professors to be able to produce 8,000 subaltern officers, if chiefs and even generals are not included."
The Navy offered the installations of its Naval Academy in San Fernando to form that which was called the "National and Patriotic Military Academy." In it were trained infantry, cavalry, artillery and engineer officers.
Once the siege of Cadiz was raised the Academy languished. As it has been said before nobody remembers when Santa Bárbara ceased to thunder. It remained definitely closed in Granada
, where it moved to, in 1823.
From this date nobody could remember the subject anymore until the R.O. (Royal Order) of 29-VII-1918 created the figure of the reserve officer, because of the excellent results that civilian graduates had given in the belligerent armies during the European War (1914-1918)
. The majority of Spaniards who adopted this system to do compulsory military service and to take the commission of ensign, had the privilege of choosing Branch and Regiment and also the city, which would be his residence.
During the Civil War
Academies were created on both sides to train ensigns, who in the Nationalist zone, received provisional grades, at its conclusion at the end of the struggle both lost their "Status." The star was not sewn on the cuff, but upon the black taffeta which was worn on the left side of the jacket and over the heart.
In 1940 the creation of the University Militias was promulgated, by law, entry into which was open to: "All students over 18 years old who attend courses in the different faculties, Technical Schools and any other teaching institution which confers degrees of duly recognized superior character." The first class of the army graduated in 1942, that of the Navy in 1944 and that of the Air Force in 1948. In 1972 this service suffered a restructuring initiating the IMEC (Instrucción Militar para la formación de las Escalas de Complemento/Military Instruction for the training of the Reserve List) period and much more recently the latest reform came under the name SEFOCUMA (Servicio de formación de cuadros de mando/Command cadre training service) where a few, previously chosen for their academic record, had the privilege to become ensigns in these Arms for them to prove by their studies a better aptitude and found themselves accommodated in the assigned quotas to be able to serve the Army, Navy or Air Force.
From 1992 Spain belonged to the CIOR and to the CIOMR, abbreviations which stand for Confederación Interaliada de Oficiales de la Reserva (Interallied Confederation of Reserve Officers
) and that of the Médicos de la Reserva (Medical Reserve Officers). They meet twice a year, first, in Brussels
during winter and then in rotating turns among member nations. This year (2001) they met in Spain: Madrid
and Toledo
. In the former the work sessions took place in the CESEDEN (Centro Superior de Estudios de la Defensa Nacional/Center for Advanced National Defense Studies) and in the latter the new classes participated in Military competitions at the Infantry Academy. In total 1,114 delegates came among them Generals, Chiefs and Officers of 30 European and American Nations.
The emergence of the Professional Armies erased with a bureaucratic stroke of the pen all possibility of serving the country in double capacity Civilian and Military, becoming double citizens—Twice a Citizen—as no less than Winston Churchill called them.
The law which stopped the promulgation and which regulated the future forces of the Reserves, did not give the opportunity to be able, like in other nations of the Western World, to be an Officer, working as a civilian, being able to be promoted in his military role, by means of courses or trainings, which the State gave as an incentive for businesses to be able to dispense with their co-workers for short periods of time, during which the said could dedicate themselves to their second occupation.
Although Spaniards trace the beginnings of University Militias to the early 19th century, it is noteworthy that in 1762 in the Philippines
, at that time a Spanish colony, four companies were raised from volunteer students of the University of Santo Tomás
, a colonial college, to fight the British invasion of the colonial capital Manila. These military units were organized again in 1780 as militia companies
, which were part of the Spanish colonial army and which existed until 1785.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. In it, militiamen undergo military training
Military education and training
Military education and training is a process which intends to establish and improve the capabilities of military personnel in their respective roles....
in the Reserves until the drill of the militia is professional.
Basically it consists of university-level students completing compulsory military service as officers (second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
) or non-commissioned officers (sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
) of the reserves, receiving military training in three periods (6 months in the first year, three months the two following years).
To be able to apply for training and to become an officer or non-commissioned officer on the reserve list the first two years of university courses that were attended must be passed and medical, physical, and psychotechnical tests commensurate to the rank must be passed.
There exists one independently for each of the three services: Army
Spanish Army
The Spanish Army is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies - dating back to the 15th century.-Introduction:...
, Navy (I.M.E.C.A.R.), and Air Force
Spanish Air Force
-The early stages:Hot air balloons had been used with military purposes in Spain as far back as 1896. In 1905, with the help of Alfredo Kindelán, Leonardo Torres y Quevedo directed the construction of the first Spanish dirigible in the Army Military Aerostatics Service, created in 1896 and located...
.
History
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
, and the consequent large number of casualties sustained among ensigns
Ensign (rank)
Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name....
and lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
s of the officer corps of the regular army. The far-seeing person who saw the way to fill in these gaps, was Gil de Bernabé, Colonel of Artillery and Director of the Academy of Segovia
Segovia
Segovia is a city in Spain, the capital of Segovia Province in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is situated north of Madrid, 30 minutes by high speed train. The municipality counts some 55,500 inhabitants.-Etymology:...
. The quarry which Gil de Bernabé used to fill these gaps among the cadre of professionals was the university students, whose intellectual training made them suitable to be assimilated quickly and, after an accelerated course, for the duties of an officer in combat.
The Colonel depended on three sources. First, the students of the University of Toledo
Battalion of University Volunteers from the Royal University of Toledo
The Battalion of University Volunteers from the Royal University of Toledo was a military unit created at the initiative of all the University's professors in August 1808 after the uprising of 2 May in Madrid against the Napoleonic invasion.-Formation:...
who facing the imminent danger of the city falling into the hands of the French left on foot, with their professors at the lead, leaving for Segovia, a city still not occupied, where it positioned itself and named itself the Literary Battalion
Literary Battalion
The Literary Battalion was a military company composed of students from the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Although there were a number of different incarnations of the group, the most notable fought in the Spanish War of Independence .-History:The Literary Battalion was first...
. Second, the Maestrantes de Ronda, good horsemen skilled in the use of the sword, and lastly, the cadets of Segovia who followed their Colonel and who it is certain, by his training, found themselves quickly taken on by the Army of the South.
Gil de Bernabé with the force of this human capital presented to the Defense Board in Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
a project whose most outstanding paragraph is that which reads: " Utilize as a quarry the 15,000 bachelor, licentiate, and doctoral students and even professors to be able to produce 8,000 subaltern officers, if chiefs and even generals are not included."
The Navy offered the installations of its Naval Academy in San Fernando to form that which was called the "National and Patriotic Military Academy." In it were trained infantry, cavalry, artillery and engineer officers.
Once the siege of Cadiz was raised the Academy languished. As it has been said before nobody remembers when Santa Bárbara ceased to thunder. It remained definitely closed in Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
, where it moved to, in 1823.
From this date nobody could remember the subject anymore until the R.O. (Royal Order) of 29-VII-1918 created the figure of the reserve officer, because of the excellent results that civilian graduates had given in the belligerent armies during the European War (1914-1918)
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The majority of Spaniards who adopted this system to do compulsory military service and to take the commission of ensign, had the privilege of choosing Branch and Regiment and also the city, which would be his residence.
During the Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
Academies were created on both sides to train ensigns, who in the Nationalist zone, received provisional grades, at its conclusion at the end of the struggle both lost their "Status." The star was not sewn on the cuff, but upon the black taffeta which was worn on the left side of the jacket and over the heart.
In 1940 the creation of the University Militias was promulgated, by law, entry into which was open to: "All students over 18 years old who attend courses in the different faculties, Technical Schools and any other teaching institution which confers degrees of duly recognized superior character." The first class of the army graduated in 1942, that of the Navy in 1944 and that of the Air Force in 1948. In 1972 this service suffered a restructuring initiating the IMEC (Instrucción Militar para la formación de las Escalas de Complemento/Military Instruction for the training of the Reserve List) period and much more recently the latest reform came under the name SEFOCUMA (Servicio de formación de cuadros de mando/Command cadre training service) where a few, previously chosen for their academic record, had the privilege to become ensigns in these Arms for them to prove by their studies a better aptitude and found themselves accommodated in the assigned quotas to be able to serve the Army, Navy or Air Force.
From 1992 Spain belonged to the CIOR and to the CIOMR, abbreviations which stand for Confederación Interaliada de Oficiales de la Reserva (Interallied Confederation of Reserve Officers
Interallied Confederation of Reserve Officers
The Interallied Confederation of Reserve Officers, commonly referred to by its French acronym CIOR, represents the interests of over 1.3 million reservists across 36 participating nations within and beyond NATO, making it the world’s largest military reserve officer organization.Founded in 1948 by...
) and that of the Médicos de la Reserva (Medical Reserve Officers). They meet twice a year, first, in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
during winter and then in rotating turns among member nations. This year (2001) they met in Spain: Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
. In the former the work sessions took place in the CESEDEN (Centro Superior de Estudios de la Defensa Nacional/Center for Advanced National Defense Studies) and in the latter the new classes participated in Military competitions at the Infantry Academy. In total 1,114 delegates came among them Generals, Chiefs and Officers of 30 European and American Nations.
The emergence of the Professional Armies erased with a bureaucratic stroke of the pen all possibility of serving the country in double capacity Civilian and Military, becoming double citizens—Twice a Citizen—as no less than Winston Churchill called them.
The law which stopped the promulgation and which regulated the future forces of the Reserves, did not give the opportunity to be able, like in other nations of the Western World, to be an Officer, working as a civilian, being able to be promoted in his military role, by means of courses or trainings, which the State gave as an incentive for businesses to be able to dispense with their co-workers for short periods of time, during which the said could dedicate themselves to their second occupation.
Although Spaniards trace the beginnings of University Militias to the early 19th century, it is noteworthy that in 1762 in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, at that time a Spanish colony, four companies were raised from volunteer students of the University of Santo Tomás
University of Santo Tomas
The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines , is a private Roman Catholic university run by the Order of Preachers in Manila. Founded on April 28, 1611 by archbishop of Manila Miguel de Benavides, it has the oldest extant university charter in the...
, a colonial college, to fight the British invasion of the colonial capital Manila. These military units were organized again in 1780 as militia companies
Royal University Militias
In 1611, the Spanish Dominicans founded in the city of Manila the University of Santo Tomas. In 1780, in it were created four Militia Companies, without a fixed number of posts, therefore dependent on the total number of pupils studying there...
, which were part of the Spanish colonial army and which existed until 1785.
In popular culture
- 15 bajo la lona (1959) is a comedy about fifteen college students in a reserve military training program.
External links
- Asociación de Veteranos de la Milicia Universitaria del Ejército de Tierra de España, Association of Veterans of the University Militia of the Army of Spain
- Asociación Milicias Navales Universitarias, Naval University Militias Association
- Fundación M.A.U. "VARA de REY", Vara de Rey A.F.U.M. Foundation
- Milicia Aérea Universitaria, Air Force University Militia
- Unión Nacional de Antiguos Oficiales y Suboficiales de las Milicias Universitarias, National Union of Former Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers of the University Militias