Gundae Hakgyo

Gundae Hakgyo (Menghean: 군대 학교 / 軍隊學校) are a network of military boarding schools for teenagers in Menghe. They are equivalent in rank to high schools, with students entering at the Standard Age of 15 and graduating at the Standard Age of 19. Most Gundae Hakgyo are run by the Menghean Army, but the Choe Tae-hyŏn Navy School in Sunju is run by the Menghean Navy.

The purpose of Gundae Hakgyo is to prepare promising teenagers for future commanding roles in the Menghean armed forces. They serve as feeder schools for the Menghean National Defense Academy and its Navy counterpart, where cadets receive an additional four years of training before graduating as commissioned officers. Graduation from a Gundae Hakgyo does not itself qualify a student for military service, though it does set the graduate on a military career track.

History

Both the State of Sinŭi and the Greater Menghean Empire operated high-school-level cadet prep schools, which were similar in role to today's Gundae Hakgyo. The Imperial Menghean Army even produced a 2/3 scale, blank-firing version of the Type 17 rifle for use in drills among children. After the onset of the Pan-Septentrion War, high-school curricula in general became more military-centric, with reduced classes to allow extra time for drill and training. By 1944, there were widespread reports of military school graduates being pressed directly into commissioned officer roles due to a shortage of qualified personnel, with most of these young officers assigned to rear-area or militia units.

After Menghe's surrender, the Allied occupation authorities closed down Menghe's high-school-level military academies, and demolished their buildings to prevent them from being reopened in the future. Menghe's oldest existing Gundae Hakgyo was founded in 1974 under the Democratic People's Republic of Menghe, and was directly modeled after the Suvorov Military School system in the Federation of Socialist Republics. After the Decembrist Revolution, the campuses in Jinjŏng, Daegok, and Hyangchun were closed down as part of the new government's military budget cuts, but in 2006, 2009, and 2010 respectively these schools were reopened.

Admission and selection

Applicants to Gundae Hakgyo must pass a rigorous physical fitness and collective problem-solving challenge modeled after the MNDA admission test. Gundae Hakgyo schools also screen applicants with a dedicated intelligence test distinct from the middle-school UMSAT, which is intended to select students with promise as military officers. Applicants must have a spotless record of ideological loyalty in the Joguk Janyŏ and a criminal record free of petty misdemeanors, though these traits do not automatically qualify an applicant for entry if their performance in other areas is weak.

Once admitted and initiated into the school, students are given the military rank of Sagwan Haksaeng, or "student-officer." Their rank insignia is a red shoulder-board with a single thin gold stripe across the outer end. This is a largely symbolic rank, and does not entitle cadets to the pay or benefits allocated to other commissioned officer ranks, for example.

Curriculum

The core curriculum at Gundae Hakgyo is standardized across all campuses, and is designed to prepare cadets for the Menghean National Defense Academy. Most courses focus on military history and military science, but cadets also receive basic education in foreign languages (especially Ostlandian and Sylvan) and mathematics, the latter as "mental exercise." Elective classes cover engineering, computer science, and music, preparing students for certain specialist roles in the MNDA, and regular marching and drill exercises keep students physically fit.

Nationalist indoctrination also plays a core role in Gundae Hakgyo curricula. To an even greater degree than most civilian-sector high schools, history and government textbooks present a consistently favorable view of Menghe, and openly glorify its role in the Pan-Septentrion War. The Collected Quotations from Choe Sŭng-min is required reading, and membership in the school's chapter of the Youth Vanguard is mandatory.

Jŏnsa Hakgyo

There are also a number of Jŏnsa Hakgyo (전사 학교 / 戰士學校), or "warrior schools," which place a greater emphasis on physical education and training in the field. The Army and Navy use these schools as an alternate source of recruits for the special forces and elite units, which are primarily fed by returning volunteers with past service in other units. Students who don't meet the special forces' rigorous entry requirements may still go on to successful service in regular volunteer units. These schools are a separate administrative category from Gundae Hakgyo, but are also run by the Armed Forces.

In contrast to the Gundae Hakkyo, which limit access to well-qualified students and focus on training commanders and technical specialists, the Jŏnsa Hakkyo are generally a destination for students who are physically fit but have performed poorly in classes. In some cases they are used as a correctional academy for students who were poorly disciplined or ill-behaved. As a result, they have a reputation among the military and civilians alike as "muscle schools," cranking out strong fighters and potential NCOs but poor commanders.

List of campuses

As of 2013, there are seven operational Gundae Hakgyo run by the Menghean Army, and one run by the Menghean Navy.

• Yang Tae-sŏng Army School, Donggyŏng
• Jang Sun-yŏng Army School, Taehwa
• Yi Sin-yŏng Army School, Insŏng
• Cho Myŏng-Won Army School, Jinjŏng
• Ji Gŏn Army School, Baekjin
• Kim Chi-wŏn Army School, Daegok
• Ismail Zakirsoy Army School, Kusadasi

• Choe Tae-hyŏn Navy School, Sunju

See also

• Education in Menghe
• Conscription in Menghe
• Menghean National Defense Academy
• Youth Vanguard