psc is a post-nominal for ''Post Staff College'' (formally ''Passed Staff College'') in the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

militaries of

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It indicates that an officer has undertaken the

staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large milita ...

course at a staff college.

United Kingdom

The practice originated in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

where the initials ''psc'' appeared in the service lists denoting that the officer had attended the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officers who attended the staff course at

Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equi ...

and RAF officers who attended the

RAF Staff College, Bracknell The RAF Staff College at Bracknell was a Royal Air Force staff college active for most of the second half of the 20th century. Its role was the training of staff officers in the administrative, staff and policy aspects of air force matters. It ...

also used the qualification. Since the 1997 amalgamation of staff training officers now receive the letters psc(j) from the

Joint Services Command and Staff College Joint Services Command and Staff College (JSCSC) is a British Armed Forces academic establishment that provides training and education to experienced officers of the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force, Ministry of Defence Civil Service, and offic ...

as Post Staff College (Joint)(United Kingdom) (psc(j)(UK)) after completing the

Advanced Command and Staff Course The Advanced Command and Staff Course is a staff course for mid career military officers of the United Kingdom armed forces and allies. It is taught at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. The cours ...

. British officers also receive the letters psc(''nation'') or psc(j)(''nation'') from attendance at overseas staff colleges, where the (''nation'') is substituted for the NATO abbreviation of that country, i.e., attendance at the French 'l'Ecole de Guerre' results in psc(j)(FRA).

Bangladesh

PSC is used for

Bangladesh Armed Forces The Bangladesh Armed Forces () is the Armed forces, military force of Bangladesh. It consists of three uniformed organizations, they are the Bangladesh Army, the Bangladesh Navy, and the Bangladesh Air Force. The Armed Forces is under the juri ...

officers who have attended the Defence Services Command & Staff College (DSCSC), Bangladesh. The College is well acclaimed internationally as a centre of excellence for study on subjects of contemporary military interest and has so far graduated over 5979 officers including 1300+ officers from 44 different countries.

India

Initials psc is used by officers who attended the

Defence Services Staff College The Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) is a defence service training institution of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. It trains officers of all three services of the Indian Armed Forces – (Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air ...

, Wellington.

Pakistan

In Pakistan initials psc is used by officers who attended the

Pakistan Command and Staff College The Command and Staff College Quetta is a staff college for the Pakistan Armed Forces and military officers from allied countries. Established in 1905 as Staff College, Deolali, it was later shifted to its present location in 1907 and has been a ...

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

Malaysia

Officers graduated from the Malaysian Armed Forces Staff College, Kuala Lumpur use the initials psc.

Namibia

Officers who graduate from the Senior Command and Staff Course at the Namibia Command and Staff College use the initials psc.

New Zealand

Officers graduated from the New Zealand Defence Force Advanced Command and Staff Course (Joint) use the post-nominals psc(j).

Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, the initials psc are used by Army, Navy and Air Force officers who have gained the Pass Staff College status from a recognized a staff college such as the

Defence Services Command and Staff College The Defence Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC) is situated at Batalanda, Makola (South) 12 Kilometers away from Colombo and its aim to develop the professional knowledge and understanding of experienced officers of the Sri Lanka Army, Sr ...

or an equivalent staff college of an allied nation. Such officers are eligible to wear the ''passed staff college (psc) badge''.Staff Qualified Officers Get 'psc' Badges
/ref>

References

{{reflist British Army training Military terminology Abbreviations Military education and training in Sri Lanka