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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Sudan
Index
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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