Army Special Operations Academy

The Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Force Special Operations Academy ( MOE code 91009), the Special Services’ Operations College, or the Army Special Operations Academy for short, is a Corps Deputy-grade military academic institution affiliated with the People's Liberation Army Ground Force. It is headquartered in Guilin in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and it is mainly responsible for the training of Army Special Operations command officers, sniper training for the entire PLA, and undergraduate basic education tasks for some command and development officers of the Marine Corps and Airborne Forces.

History

In June 2017, the Army Special Operations Academy was created from the merger of the Special Operations Academy and Guilin Integrated Training Base (former Guilin Army Academy).

PLA Special Operations Academy

* In November 1949, the Guangdong Military and Political University was established.
* In August 1950, the university was named as the Central South Military and Political University 6th branch campus.
* In March 1951, it was restructured as the 25th Infantry School.
* In July 1953, it was restructured as the Military Physical Education School.
* In August 1957, the school was abolished and some cadres formed the General Staff Department (GSD) Physical Education Cadre Training Group.
* In January 1961, the group was expanded and became the Physical Education Academy.
* In 1966, the academy was broken up due to the Cultural Revolution.
* In April 1969, the academy was abolished. The Guangzhou Military Region Physical Education Training Group was created and granted with regiment-level authority.
* In April 1973, the group was expanded and became the Military Physical Education Training Group as a division-level entity.
* In September 1974, it was reinstated as the Physical Education Academy.
* In 1986, the Guangzhou Communications Academy was created as a branch campus.
* In October 1992, the academy was restructured and divided into the GSD Physical Education Department and the Communications and Command Academy.
* In June 1993, the Physical Education Academy was reestablished and became a corps-level entity.
* In 1993, the academy started to admit graduate students.
* In June 1999, a major restructuring of all PLA academic institutions occurred and the communication specialized training was reassigned to other units, while the Bayi Military Physical Fitness Team was integrated into the academy. The academy was renamed as the Physical Education Academy as a corps-level entity and assigned under the GSD.
* In 2003, the Physical Education Academy was abolished. The campus became the Military Physical Exercise Integrated Training Base. It also served as the Military Physical Exercise Continuing Education Academy and opened enrollment for graduate students.
* In June 2011, the Institute of International Relations’278 Reconnaissance and Special Operations Command Department and Military Physical Exercise Integrated Training Base underwent a merger and became the Special Operations Academy. The academy undertakes the responsibilities of training personnel in the scope of special operations, unit reconnaissance, military physical fitness, and classified documents.
* In 2016, the Special Operations Academy was reassigned under the PLA Army HQ as part of the overall PLA reorganization.

PLA Southern Theater Command Army Guilin Integrated Training Base

*In April 1955, the Beibei Infantry School was established in Chongqing City, Sichuan Province.
*In May 1958, the school was relocated to Guilin City of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, it was renamed as the Guilin Infantry School. It was assigned under the GSD Academic Institution Department and managed by the Guangzhou Military Region.
* In August 1961, it was renamed as the Guangzhou Military Region Infantry School, subordinated to the Guangzhou Military Region HQ.
* In July 1968, the school was abolished.
* In October 1973, the Guangzhou Military Region Military and Political Cadres School was established at the same location.
* In January 1978, it was renamed back to Guangzhou Military Region Infantry School.
* In February 1981, it was renamed as the Guilin Army School.
* In September 1986, it was renamed as the Guilin Army Academy.
* In 1992, the academy was demoted from corps-level to division-level.
* In 2005, the former Guilin Army Academy and Guangzhou Military Region Communications Training Group underwent a merger and became the deputy corps-grade Guangzhou Military Region Integrated Training Base.
* In January 2016, it was reassigned under the Southern Theater Command and renamed as Southern Theater Command Army Guilin Integrated Training Base.

Organizational structure

Specialties

After its establishment in 2017, the PLA Army Special Operations Academy established 3 specialties:
*Combat Command (Special Operations Detachment Command, Reconnaissance Detachment Command, Marine Detachment Command, Airborne Detachment Command)
*Reconnaissance intelligence (Reconnaissance Detachment command)
*Command Information Systems Engineering (Special Operations Detachment Command, Reconnaissance Detachment Command)

Departments

* Special Operations
* Intelligence and Reconnaissance
* Sniper Operations
* Military Physical Fitness

Research Labs and Centers

* All-Army Advanced and Intermediate Sniper Training Center
* Army Chinese Communist Party Innovation Theory Learning Research Center
* Military Physical Education Development and Strategy Research Center
* Physical Fitness Training Center
* All-Army Reconnaissance Special Warfare Professional Training and Cultivation Base
* Military Political Work Teaching and Research Laboratory

Campuses

The Guilin main campus covers an area of over (12,000 mu). The main campus is located at No.33 Chongxin Road, Xiangshan District, Guilin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The campus and associated areas include 90 technical training sites, four multiple combat terrain training sites, and a large instructional complex.

Given its origin as a physical education institution, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Special Operations College has remained a center for military sports training. The academy has repeatedly become a national sports training base, in 2007 being named the National Taekwongdo Southern Training Base. The academy has served as a winter training site for the Chinese national boxing team and the Chinese national men's taekwondo team. The academy also served as a training ground for the Chinese national boxing team, the Chinese national shooting team, and other teams preparing for the 2008 Olympic Games.

See also

*Academic institutions of the armed forces of China
* PLA Special Forces
* CMC Training and Administration Department
* People's Armed Police Special Operations College
* CMC Training Administration Department Military Sports Training Center（Bayi Sports Brigade）
* General Administration of Sport of China

References

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People's Liberation Army Ground Force
Special forces of the People's Republic of China
Universities and colleges in Guangxi
Military education and training in China
2017 establishments in China
Military academies of China
Corps deputy grade units of the armed forces of China