Portuguese Air Force Academy

The Air Force Academy (AFA - Academia da Força Aérea) is a Portuguese military higher education institution whose aim is to provide all its students with the training and the experience that will enable them to graduate having gained the knowledge and the character qualities that are essential for leadership, and the motivation to become Air Force officers. It comprises both university and polytechnic courses.

History

For many years after its creation in 1952 as an independent branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces, Air Force officers attended the Military Academy. However, military professionalization, as well as the specific nature of the qualifications required for an Air Force career officer, led to the creation of the Air Force Academy (AFA).

The AFA became the third military higher education institution, alongside the Naval School and the Military Academy.

Now the AFA has its own facilities next to Air Base 1, in Granja do Marquês. It started its activity though, on 1 February 1978, in temporary facilities and only students that were then attending the 3rd year of the Military Aeronautics degree course were taken in. As its own facilities were built it became possible to expand the educational range of the Academy to cover other areas of interest. Thus, in response to the real needs of the Air Force, in the school year of 1991/92 other degrees were created: Aeronautical Engineering; Airfield Engineering; Electrical Engineering; Computer Engineering and Aeronautical...
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