Frunze Military Academy

, a posthumous 1929 portrait by Isaak Brodsky. Commandant of the academy between 1924 and 1925, and subsequently its namesake. Establishing an academy for the training of command and staff officers was an Imperial-era innovation, carried out at the Imperial Nicholas Military Academy. With the outbreak of the First World War, classes at the academy ceased. Special wartime courses for staff officers were briefly instituted from 30 October 1916 on the initiative of General Mikhail Alekseyev, but closed in late April 1917. On 7 October 1918 the Revolutionary Military Council ordered the foundation of the General Staff Academy of the Red Army, based in Moscow and taking on the functions of the Imperial-era General Staff Academy. These courses became the basis for the Military Academy of the General Staff, which was split from the Frunze Military Academy in 1936. On 18 January 1934 the academy was awarded the Order of Lenin, and became known as the Red Banner Order of Lenin Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze. By 1941 more than 7,500 personnel had graduated from the academy. With developments in nuclear weapons, the academy trained officers in the use of tank, motorized rifle units, aviation and artillery in a possible nuclear war. The academy continued to operate after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, training officers for the Russian Armed Forces. On 29 August 1998, in accordance with government decree No. 1009, the academy was combined with the Malinovsky Military Armoured Forces Academy and the Vystrel officer training courses to form the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. ==Education==

With the splitting of the higher strategic courses into the new Military Academy of the General Staff in 1936, the Frunze Military Academy concentrated on preparing officers for combined arms warfare. Students generally entered for a three-year course of study, usually at the rank of captain. ==Faculty==

, one of a number of academy graduates who returned to take up teaching posts Teaching faculty at the academy often held senior military ranks alongside higher academic qualifications. ==Graduates==

A number of the first academy graduates went on to high ranks, among whom were future marshals of the Soviet Union Nikolay Voronov, Kirill Meretskov, Vasily Sokolovsky and Vasily Chapayev. During the Second World War 244 academy graduates received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, with a further 18 being awarded the title twice. Between 1934 and 1988, 722 graduates of the academy were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. ==Heads==

The first head of the academy was , a major general and division commander, who had served in the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. ==References==