École militaire interarmes

The Combined Arms School or Joint military school, known as École Militaire Interarmes or EMIA, is a military school of the French Army intended to train officers who have risen from the ranks. It was founded in 1942 and based in Coëtquidan along with Saint-Cyr military school.

The EMIA is the heir of various military branch schools dating from the early 19th century and intended to train army officers promoted from the ranks , from non-commissioned officers or from the reserves . The largest of these army branch schools was the infantry school of Saint-Maixent, which was merged with Saint-Cyr in 1942. The merged academies formed the School of Cherchell-Mediouna, created after the German occupation of the Southern Zone of France. In 1944 the Military Academy at Cherchell took the name of "Joint Military Academy." It moved to Coëtquidan, occupying the buildings of the former Academy of Saint-Cyr. These were subsequently destroyed by bombing. The new school was reopened in 1947, taking the name of the "Joint Special Military School". Following the principles of amalgamation favoured by its founder, General de Lattre de Tassigny, the school comprised both "direct" officer-cadets entering from civilian life and chosen through external competition; and "semi-direct" officer-cadets selected from serving military personnel. This system was retained until 1961, when the training of "direct" officers was transferred to the School of Saint-Cyr, and that of "semi-direct" officers was undertaken by the EMIA.

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