Royal Australian Air Force Academy
1. T h e R.A.A.F. Academy,has evolved from the R.A.A.F. College, which was established in 1948 as a tertiary training centre to provide a professional education for permanent officers of the Air Force.
2. T h e College's curriculum extended over four years and included subjects drawn from the pure sciences, humanities, and those applied sciences relevant to aeronautics. Military studies and a full flying training course were part of the syllabus. T h e College graduated 12 courses of cadets who are now serving in various branches of the service.
3. In 1956 the R.A.A.F. set up a committee, under the chairmanship of Air Vice-Marshal I. D.
McLachlan, C.B.E., D.F.C., composed of R.A.A.F. and University representatives, to examine the College syllabus of training. T h e committee was impressed with the need for higher edu- cational preparation for the Officer Corps, and recommended a course leading to a university degree. Various means of instituting a degree course at the College were being considered when Professor Sir Leslie Martin, then Professor of Physics of the University of Melbourne, suggested the best solution was to adopt a University of Melbourne Bachelor of Science course and to qualify for that University's degree. Negotiations between the R.A.A.F. and the University of Melbourne reached an agreement by which the R.A.A.F. College was reconstituted as the R.A.A.F. Academy for the purpose of awarding the degree of Bachelor of Science (Melbourne). A later revision of the University statute permits the Academy to present students for higher degrees in Science and the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
4. T h e academic curriculum at the Academy comprises degree subjects from the department of Physics and Chemistry and the department of Mathematics, together with subjects from the department of Aeronautical Science and the department of Arts and Military Studies.
5. T h e R.A.A.F. Academy is directed by a senior serving officer as Commandant. T h e military programme, sporting activities and domestic affairs of the Academy are managed by the Assistant Commandant. T h e university element of the syllabus is controlled by a Dean of University Studies who is responsible to the Faculty of Science of the University of Melbourne. T h e Dean and most of the staff engaged in the science degree studies hold appointments to the University of Mel- bourne (R.A.A.F. Academy). T h e Warden of the Academy is responsible for the general academic administration of the Academy, the academic subjects outside the science degree, and for the general balance of the syllabus. Academy staff are actively engaged in fundamental research using facilities largely provided by the Air Force.
6. T h e directing staff of the Academy is:
C O M M A N D A N T
Air Commodore A. R. Reed, D F C .
A S S I S T A N T C O M M A N D A N T
Group Captain J. A. Radford.
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R . A . A . F . A C A D E M Y
W A R D E N
D. R. Watson, BSc Syd. DipEd Syd. MA P h D .
D E A N O F U N I V E R S I T Y S T U D I E S
Professor J. A. T h o m a s , BSc Adel. P h D Q'ld. DSc AInstP M A I P MIAU.
P R O F E S S O R O F M A T H E M A T I C S
Professor M. N . Brearley, BE W.Aust. BSc Syd. MA Camb. P h D Adel. MSc.
P R O F E S S O R A N D H E A D O F D E P A R T M E N T O F P H Y S I C S A N D C H E M I S T R Y
]. A. T h o m a s , BSc Adel. P h D Q'ld DSc AInstP M A I P MIAU.
7. Entry to the R.A.A.F. Academy is by means of cadetships which are awarded annually, on a competitive basis, to students throughout Australia. T h e qualifications required for selection are set out in a brochure on the R.A.A.F. Academy, available from the local Recruiting Centre.
They include the possession of a matriculation qualification prior to entry to the Academy, and the limitation on age that the applicant must not have reached his 20th birthday by 31 March of the year ofentry.
8. T h e R.A.A.F. bears all the costs of the training, including accommodation and clothing. Cadets also receive pay and allowances throughout the course.
