Defence Academy of the United Kingdom


The Defence Academy of the United Kingdom provides higher education for personnel in the British Armed Forces, Civil Service, other government departments and service personnel from other nations. The Director General of the Defence Academy is Air Marshal Edward Stringer, a senior Royal Air Force officer.

Structure

The Defence Academy is headquartered at what used to be the Royal Military College of Science site at Shrivenham in southwestern Oxfordshire; it delivers education and training there and in a number of other sites. The majority of training is postgraduate with many courses being accredited for the award of civilian qualifications.
The formation of the Defence Academy consolidated education and training delivered by a number of different establishments into a single organisational and budgetary structure, intended to improve efficiency, reduce duplication of effort and align delivery to defence requirements. The Defence Academy is also responsible for the maintenance of relationships with the UK academic establishment and with military and naval service educational institutions worldwide.
Non technical research is carried out for the development of doctrine and analysis of the international security environment.

Delivery units and locations

Training is delivered by:
The Director General of the Defence Academy was, until 2011, a three-star rank which can be filled by any of the three armed services.
The Director General of the Defence Academy chairs the Defence Academy Management Board which is composed of the commandants of the constituent delivery units and Chief of Staff, Defence Academy. The commanding officer of Shrivenham Station is a separate post filled by a Royal Air Force Wing Commander.
The management board report to a four-star steering board and an advisory board including academic expertise from the private sector and academia. A customer board at two-star level represents the customer community.
Academic provision is delivered through partnering agreements with Cranfield University and King's College London.
List of Directors General: