The Moldovan Military Academy: Transforming Officer Education

Abstract

Professional Military Education in ContextThe twenty-first century has ushered in an era of dynamic changes to the international security environment, which demands new capabilities and responses to new threats, an increased likelihood of operating as part of a multinational effort, combined with an expectation of economic austerity that places downward pressure on defense budgets. This dynamic security environment holds true for superpowers, like the United States, and nations at the other end of the geopolitical spectrum, like the Republic of Moldova. When it comes to the needs of military establishments across the entire range of national size and resources, they all share the same imperative for leader development and professional military education. General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, highlighted this imperative in his recently published Strategic Direction to the Joint Force. He identified the need to reinforce leadership development at all levels of Joint Professional Military Education, in order to develop principled leaders who can combine new capabilities in new ways in complex environments.1 All nations need to reform and leverage their professional military education programs.From the perspective of the United States and NATO, a second imperative relates to the efforts undertaken to assist other nations in the enhancement of their professional military education programs. A key tenet of the recently published U.S. defense guidance, Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21s' Century Defense, is building partnership capacity.2 Previous strategic documents have also stressed the importance of activities designed to enhance the professionalization of partner military forces, and former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, in a Foreign Affairs article titled Helping Others Defend Themselves, further elaborated on this concept by emphasizing the importance of building the institutional capacity or human capital of partner nations.3 The Declaration on Defense Capabilities, from the Chicago NATO Summit in 2012, also highlighted the importance of linkages with partner countries and the need to expand education and training. Partnership capacity building, in part, should be focused on providing assistance to partner and allied professional military education (PME) programs. It is through enhanced partner capacity, and the ability to operate in a multinational environment, that global security challenges will be addressed and global stability will be maximized.The Moldovan ExperienceThe Defense Education Enhancement Program in Moldova was initiated at the invitation of then-President Voronin to the NATO Secretary-General in April 2008, requesting assistance to gradually bring the curriculum [of the Military Institute] in line with Western standards, as one of their key Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) objectives. When Moldova gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the republic contained no residual military institute or educational infrastructure. The foundation for professional military education (PME) in the Republic of Moldova was based on the Soviet model, and the national leadership acknowledged that they needed to transition from this era. The Military Institute was created in 1992, and began with a two-year pre-commissioning course of instruction. In 1996 the curriculum expanded to a three-year program, and expanded to the current program in 2002, graduating the first four-year class in 2006. The curriculum is in accordance with the education law of Moldova and the 1999 Bologna Agreements as a Level I licensure and diploma (Bachelor's degree) granting institution.Responding to the request from President Voronin, NATO organized a multinational team of military professionals and educators to conduct an assessment visit in January 2009 to review the education and training capabilities of the Military Institute of the Moldovan Armed Forces. …