Captains Career School

HISTORY OF THE CAPTAINS CAREER SCHOOL

                                        Current façade of the Captains Career School

  The need to update the military Ground Doctrine, a result of the experiences lived during the Canudos Campaign, has motivated the Brazilian Army to search for an effective methodology for the use of the Ground Force. In order to establish parameters for the creation of a modern Army, officers have gone on missions abroad to learn about the military doctrines used by other countries and to verify the possibility of adapting them to the Brazilian reality.
  The participation of the Brazilian militaries alongside French battalions during World War I and the success of France in the conflict have contributed to the decision to choose the French military Doctrine as the basis for the restructuring of the Brazilian Army. Thus, and under the guidance of the French Military Mission, the War Minister Brigadier General Alberto Cardoso de Aguiar, according to the Federal Decree number 13,451, in January 1919, created the Captains Career School (EsAO)

The French Military Mission, commanded by Gen Gamelin, has given birth to EsAO

  The school began its activities on April 8th, 1920, when it was set up in the barracks of the 1st Horse Artillery Regiment (now 15th Mechanized Cavalry Regiment). After 4 years in provisional facilities, the school was moved to where it stands now, at that time a modern pavilion built specifically for school purposes.

EsAO definitive facilities: Main Pavilion and Annex on the left, completed in 1924

  For almost a century, EsAO has fulfilled its mission of updating and expanding the knowledge of the young officers of the Brazilian Army. At the same time, officers from the Navy, Air Force, Military Police, and Friendly Nations passed through the school benches, exchanging experiences, strengthening ties, and establishing relationships between institutions and countries. Having already housed more than thirty thousand captains in progress throughout its history, EsAO became known within the Brazilian Army as the "Captain's House", and graduated until 2018 the following officers: