Homs Military Academy is a military educational and training institution located in

Homs Homs ( , , , ; ar, حِمْص / ALA-LC: ; Levantine Arabic: / ''Ḥomṣ'' ), known in pre-Islamic Syria as Emesa ( ; grc, Ἔμεσα, Émesa), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. Homs Military Academy was founded in 1933 by France during the

Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (french: Mandat pour la Syrie et le Liban; ar, الانتداب الفرنسي على سوريا ولبنان, al-intidāb al-fransi 'ala suriya wa-lubnān) (1923−1946) was a League of Nations mandate foun ...

. During the period of French administration the Academy provided officer training for the ''Troupes Speciales du Levant'' - the locally recruited Syrian and Lebanese units forming part of the

Army of the Levant The Army of the Levant (french: Armée du Levant) identifies the armed forces of France and then Vichy France which occupied, and were in part recruited from, the French Mandated territories in the Levant during the interwar period and early W ...

. Continuing in existence after the end of the Mandate in 1943 and throughout various political changes, it remains the oldest and largest military service institution in Syria. At first, it was primarily an academy for infantry officers, while graduates who selected the other services went on to additional specialized training at other army-operated specialist schools. Graduates were often selected for a military academy in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. Homs Academy allowed entrants who did not possess high level education qualifications, as well as offering a relatively rare rapid career path for graduates. In addition to large numbers of Syrian and Lebanese nationals it also offered officer training to French citizens who were denied by class or education from attending comparable academies within France.

Notable alumni

* Ziad al-Atassi - Major General * Lu'ay al-Atassi - Lieutenant-General, military attache to USA. Titular President during interim government.Moubayed, Sami (2006). Steel & Silk: Men and Women Who Shaped Syria 1900-2000. Seattle: Cune Press. *

Ali Abdullah Ayyoub General Ali Abdullah Ayyoub ( ar, علي عبد الله أيوب, ʿAlī ʿAbd Allāh Ayyūb) (born 28 April 1952 in Latakia) is the current Deputy Prime Minister of Syria, senior Syrian Arab Army officer and former Minister of Defense. He wa ...

Deputy Prime Minister of Syria The Deputy Prime Minister of Syria (Arabic: نائب رئيس الوزراء السوري) is the deputy to the Prime Minister of Syria, who is head of the government of Syria, and a member of the Council of Ministers. The deputy prime minister i ...

, senior

Syrian Arab Army " (''Guardians of the Homeland'') , colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive * Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki , anniversaries = August 1st , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War Six ...

officer and former

Minister of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in s ...

Adnan al-Malki Adnan al-Malki ( ar, عدنان المالكي‎) (1918 – 22 April 1955) was a Syrian Army officer and political figure in the mid-20th century. He served as the deputy-chief of staff of the army and was one of the most powerful figures ...

- Deputy-Chief of Staff of Syrian Army * Ali Aslan Lieutenant General, Assistant Chief of Staff of Syrian Army *

Bashar al-Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the S ...

Syrian President *

Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad ', , (, 6 October 1930 – 10 June 2000) was a Syrian statesman and military officer who served as President of Syria from taking power in 1971 until his death in 2000. He was also Prime Minister of Syria from 1970 to 197 ...

Former Syrian President * Rifat al-Assad brother of Former Syrian President * Adnan Badr Hassan Former intelligence chief *

Suheil Al Hassan Suheil Salman al-Hassan ( ar, سُهَيْلُ سَلْمَانَ الْحَسَنِ, Suhayl Salmān al-Ḥasan) (born 10 June 1970), nicknamed The Tiger, is a Brigadier General in the Syrian Army, currently serving as commander of its elite Tig ...

Brigadier General, Commander of Elite

Tiger Forces The 25th Special Mission Forces Division, mostly known by their former name Tiger Forces or Quwwat al-Nimr ( ar, قُوَّات النِّمْر), is an elite formation (special forces unit) of the Syrian Arab Army which functions primarily as ...

* Ali Haydar "Father of the Syrian Special Forces, served as commander of the Syrian Special Forces for 26 years *

Salah Jadid Salah Jadid (1926 – 19 August 1993, ar, صلاح جديد, Ṣalāḥ Jadīd) was a Syrian general, a leader of the left-wing of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in Syria, and the country's ''de facto'' leader from 1966 until 1970, when h ...

Major General, De Facto former leader of Syria *

Ghazi Kanaan Ghazi Kanaan ( ar, غازي كنعان; 1942 – 12 October 2005), also known as Abu Yo'roub, was Syria's interior minister from 2004 to 2005, and long-time head of Syria's security apparatus in Lebanon. His violent death during an investigati ...

* Hassan Khalil - Former Head of

Military Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from ...

of Syria *

Hikmat al-Shihabi Hikmat al-Shihabi ( ar, حكمت الشهابي; 8 January 1931 – 5 March 2013), also known as ''Hikmat Shihabi'', was a Syrian career military officer, who served as the chief of staff of the Syrian Army between 1974 and 1998. As a Sunni, he ...

- Former chief of staff of the Syrian Army * Bahjat Suleiman Major General, Former Syrian Ambassador to Jordan and Head of Internal Branch of General Intelligence Directorate. *

Fawzi Selu Fawzi Selu (1905–1972) ( ar, فوزي السلو, Fawzī al-Salū) was a Syrian military leader, politician and the President of Syria from December 3, 1951, to July 11, 1953. Career He studied at the Homs Military Academy and joined the Fren ...

- both a graduate and later director of the academy *

Manaf Tlass Manaf Tlass or Manaf Tlas ( ar, مَنَاف طَلَاس, Manāf Ṭalās; born 1964) is a former Brigadier General of the Syrian Republican Guard and member of Bashar al-Assad's inner circle who defected in 2012. He was the first Syrian Repub ...

former

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed to ...

of the

Syrian Republican Guard The Syrian Republican Guard ( ar, الْحَرَسُ الْجُمْهُورِيُّ, ''al-Ḥaras al-Jumhūriyy''), also known as the Presidential Guard, is an elite 25,000 man mechanized division, although it may actually approach corps size wi ...

and member of Bashar al-Assad's inner circle *

Mustafa Tlass Mustafa Abdul Qadir Tlass ( ar, مُصْطَفَى عَبْد الْقَادِر طَلَاس, Musṭafā ʿAbd al-Qādir Ṭalās; 11 May 1932 – 27 June 2017) was a Syrian senior military officer and politician who was Syria's minister of defe ...

former

Syrian Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indi ...

senior military officer and politician who was Syria's minister of defense from 1972 to 2004.

References

{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1933 Buildings and structures in Homs 1933 establishments in Mandatory Syria Universities in Syria