Army Special Operations Academy

The Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Force Special Operations Academy (MOE code 91009), or the Army Special Operations Academy for short, is a Corps Deputy-grade military academic institution affiliated with the People's Liberation Army Ground Force. It is headquartered in Guilin in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and it is mainly responsible for the training of Army Special Operations command officers, sniper training for the entire PLA, and undergraduate basic education tasks for some command and development officers of the Marine Corps and Airborne Forces.

History


The Army Special Operations Academy is descended from two different institutions: a succession of physical education institutions in Guanzhou, and a training center in Guilin. The PLA reformed its educational institutions with great frequency, so both units had many incarnations.

PLA Special Operations Academy
In November 1949, the People's Liberation Army stationed in Guangdong took over the Second Branch of the Central Police School of the Republic of China in Shahe, Guangzhou, and established the "Chinese People's Liberation Army Military and Political University" under the leadership of the Guangdong Military Region. The principal and political commissar was Ye Jianying.The school had a training department, a political department, a cadre department, and a material support department. It has jurisdiction over 4 student brigades with more than 3,000 students. The first, second, and fourth brigades recruited students and young people to train into military, cultural, and educational cadres; the third brigades were serving cadres, mainly training platoon, company, and battalion cadres of the Guangdong Military Region troops. There were 3 military squadrons, 2 political squadrons, 1 staff squadron, and 1 insurrectionist officer corps (起义军官队). The academic course duration was half a year, and only one term was held.

In August 1950, Guangdong Military and Political University was renamed as "The Sixth Branch of the Central South Military and Political University of the Chinese People's Liberation Army", which was affiliated to the main campus of the CSMPU.

In March 1951, the university was reorganized into the "25th Infantry School of the Chinese People's Liberation Army" and was placed under the leadership of the Fourth Senior Infantry School of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The school headquarters consisted of a training department, a political department, a cadre department, and a material support department. There were a total of 3,000 students, organized into a first, second, third and fourth cadet brigades. The trainees came from army veterans, platoon and company cadres, and individual battalion-level cadres. It mainly trained grassroots cadres, with cultural education accounting for 70%, military training accounting for 20%, and political education accounting for 10% of study time. The plan was for degree course to take one and a half years, but due to the outbreak of the Korean War, cultural studies were stopped and all time was dedicated to military training. The first brigade graduated at the end of 1952. The second, third and fourth brigades graduated in June 1953.

In July 1953, the school was reorganized yet again into the "PLA Military Sports School", still stationed in Shahe, Guangzhou, under the Central-South Military Region. The school consisted of a Training Department, Political Department, Cadre Department, Material Support Department, Formations Department, and Finance Department. It had 6 cadet teams and 1 practice company. The establishment number was 905 people. The mission was to train army, division and regiment sports directors, and military academies sports teachers for the entire military. The trainees mainly came from current military sports cadres and grassroots sports cadres. The schooling lasted from 3 to 10 months, for a total of 5 semesters given, and an enrollment of 3,026 students.

In August 1957, the school was reorganized, and formed into the "General Staff Headquarters's Sports Cadre Rotation Training Team". In July 1958, this was expanded into the "Sports Cadre Training Brigade of the General Staff Headquarters". A total of 5 terms were held, with 2,200 trainees trained, including a total of 87 foreign students from Vietnam. The training brigade hosted the Bayi (PLA's) Track and Field Team, Bayi Weightlifting Team, Bayi Cycling Team, Bayi Archery Team, and Bayi Fencing Team.

In January 1961, the sports cadre training brigade was expanded into the "PLA Sports Institute". The Institute had a training department, a political department, a college affairs department, an crash-course department, a basic training department, a sports department, and a college office. As of 1965, it had trained a total of 2,783 trainees, including 24 Vietnamese students, and trained 1,800 key sports personnel for various military units and colleges. From 1959 to 1965, a total of 10 athletes from the academy broke 24 national records in men's and women's archery 213 times, including 5 athletes who broke 12 world records 25 times. From 1961 to 1965, a total of 29 athletes from the weightlifting team, track and field team, and cycling team broke 51 national records and broke 1 world record in weightlifting.

In 1966, the "Cultural Revolution" broke out and the college ceased operations. The college was dissolved in April 1969. The Guangzhou Military Region Sports Training Team was established instead. In April 1973, the Physical Training Team was expanded into the PLA Military Sports Training Brigade, as a division-level unit.

In September 1974, the PLA Sports Institute was restored. From 1974 to 1980, there were 25 enrollment periods and 6,358 trainees were trained. In 1981, the majors were adjusted, the physical education major was compressed, and a telecommunications major was added. The three departments were changed into three brigades: the physical education major became the First Brigade, with a 3-year schooling period, and was geared towards military trainers; the communications major became the Second and Third Brigades, geared towards service units. Local enrollment was available, and the schooling system was divided into 2, 3, and 4 years courses. Due to this (rather uncommon) dual specialties structure, the college was given two names: it was also known as the Guangzhou Communications College of the PLA. In October 1992, the college was disbanded and split into the "Army Staff College of Chinese People's Liberation Army's Physical Education Department", and the "PLA Communications Command College Guangzhou Branch". In June 1993, the PLA Sports College was restored (including the Communications College) and became a division-level unit again. In 1993, it began to recruit master's degree students

In June 1999, the organizational structure of all military colleges and universities was adjusted, and the communication professional training tasks were transferred to other units. The August 1st Military Sports Brigade was merged into the college, and the college was renamed "PLA Sports Institute" as a division-level unit directly under the leadership of the PLA General Staff Headquarters. In 2003, the People's Liberation Army Physical Education College was abolished and reconstituted as the "PLA Military Sports Comprehensive Training Base", and used as the PLA' Military Sports Continuing Education College, recruiting graduate students only

In June 2011, the Reconnaissance and Special Operations Command majors of the NUDT International Relations Department (majors established in 1978), and the Military Sports Comprehensive Training Base were merged to form the PLA Special Operations Academy which was "responsible for cultivating talents in professional fields such as special operations, military reconnaissance, military sports, and some confidential roles".

In 2016, as part of the 2015 People's Republic of China military reforms, the PLA's SOA was transferred to the PLA Ground Force and became the Army Special Operations Academy.

PLA Southern Theater Command Army Guilin Comprehensive Training Base
In April 1955, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Beibei Infantry School was established in Chongqing City  In May 1958, the school site was moved to Guilin, Guangxi, and renamed the "Guilin Infantry School of the PLA", subordinate to the GSD of the PLA. In August 1961, it was renamed the Guangzhou Military District Infantry School of the PLA. In July 1968, during the Cultural Revolution, the school was abolished. In October 1973, the "PLA Political Cadre School" was formed in Guangzhou Military District. In January 1978, it was renamed the People's Liberation Army Guangzhou Infantry School. In February 1981, it was renamed the Guilin Army School of the People's Liberation Army. In September 1986, it was renamed the Guilin Army College of the People's Liberation Army. In 1992, the Guilin Army Academy was downgraded from the Corps-grade to Division-grade.

In November 2003, the former Guilin Army Academy and the former Guangzhou Military Area Communication Training Brigade were merged and reorganized into the "Guangzhou Military Area Integrated Training Base of the People's Liberation Army of China" (MUCD Unit 75660). In January 2016, as part of the military reforms, it was transferred to the PLA's Southern Theater Command Ground Force and renamed the People's Liberation Army Southern Area Army Guilin Integrated Training Base. In 2017 the GITB was merged with the PLAGF Special Operations Academy and formed into the Army Special Operations Academy, with the main campus in Guilin.

Specialties
After its establishment in 2017, the PLA Army Special Operations Academy established 3 specialties:
 * Combat Command (Special Operations Detachment Command, Reconnaissance Detachment Command, Marine Detachment Command, Airborne Detachment Command)
 * Reconnaissance intelligence (Reconnaissance Detachment command)
 * Command Information Systems Engineering (Special Operations Detachment Command, Reconnaissance Detachment Command)

Departments
Given its origin as a physical education institution, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Special Operations College has remained a center for military sports training. The academy has repeatedly become a national sports training base, in 2007 being named the National Taekwongdo Southern Training Base. The academy has served as a winter training site for the Chinese national boxing team and the Chinese national men's taekwondo team. The academy also served as a training ground for the Chinese national boxing team, the Chinese national shooting team, and other teams preparing for the 2008 Olympic Games.
 * Special Operations (特种作战)
 * Intelligence and Reconnaissance (情报侦察)
 * Sniper Operations (狙击作战)
 * Military Physical Fitness (军事体育)

=== Research Labs and Centers ===
 * All-Army Advanced and Intermediate Sniper Training Center (全军高中级狙击手培训中心)
 * Army Chinese Communist Party Innovation Theory Learning Research Center (陆军党的创新理论学习研究中心)
 * Military Physical Education Development and Strategy Research Center (军事体育发展战略研究中心)
 * Physical Fitness Training Center (体能训练中心)
 * All-Army Reconnaissance Special Warfare Professional Training and Cultivation Base (全军侦察特战人
 * Military Political Work Teaching and Research Laboratory (军队政治工作教研室)

Campuses
The Guilin main campus covers an area of over 800 ha (12,000 mu). The main campus is located at No.33 Chongxin Road, Xiangshan District, Guilin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (广西壮族自治区桂林市象山区崇信路33号). The campus and associated areas include 90 technical training sites (军事共同专业技术训练场), four multiple combat terrain training sites (多种作战地形综合训练场), and a large instructional complex (教学楼)