General Staff Academy (Barrayar)
The General Staff Academy of the Imperial Service trains military officers in the administrative, staff and policy aspects of their profession. The General Staff Academy provides two different course levels to officers, in order to pass them to senior officers (i.e. to Major/Commander, at the War School) and to General/Flag officers (i.e. to Brigadier General/Commodore, at the General Staff School).
The GSA courses, especially those of the War School, act as filters for promotion or entry into a specialist staff corps. The length of courses varies up to two years, with all having entrance and exit examinations.
War School
An officer may apply only after ten years of active service after graduation from the Imperial Military Academy. Within that ten-year period, most applicants also graduate from one or more specialized technical training schools.
The War School also undertakes the training of officers for Staff purposes, to which end young officers are employed in drawing up reports on strategical and tactical questions, critical reports on the military events of past eras, descriptions of the ground embraced in military operations, and of the military organization of foreign countries. Whenever the foregoing essays appear to be of special value, they are brought beneath the notice of the Chief of the General Staff for the transfer to the Service of General Staff or, if they rank as Major, to further courses for appointment to the Corps of General Staff.
General Staff School
Officers selected for this academy have first attended the appropriate branch education, as well as the War School. Graduates who are not already generals or admirals usually are promoted to this rank a short time after completing the course. Length of the academy is only two years, in contrast to the three years for the basic academies.
The General Staff School is designed for the more advanced officers and exists to create the ability for an Officer to fully develop their career potential. The Courses in the General Staff School are more advanced and require more thought and insight in order to successfully the coursework:
- Course of Combined Arms
- Course of Military History
- Course of Strategy and Tactics
Each Course has three Levels; in order to become a graduate of the General Staff School, an Officer must have completed all the First and Second Course Levels from the Courses in the School and must have completed any two Third Course Level from the Courses in the School.