The Educational and Training Services form part of the Adjutant General's Corps and have done since 1992 when this Corps of the British Army was formed. Their remit is to continue the general education of soldiers and officers alike, as well as the military training of the soldiers of the Army.
The Educational and Training Services Branch can trace its history back to 1762 when the First Regiment of Guards (Grenadiers) based at the Tower of London established a Unit School.[1] In 1797 the Royal Artillery opened a Regimental School at Woolwich Station, and in 1812 the British Parliament first provided funding for Army schools.[1] This was the first widespread, state funded education system in the United Kingdom.[2]
The Corps of Army Schoolmasters and the Queen's Army Schoolmistresses in Aldershot, 1919.
Following the establishment of the Regimental School System, all Army Sergeant Schoolmasters were formally trained in The Monitorial System this being the most modern form of instruction at the time.[3] Thus, the Corps of Army Schoolmasters was established in 1845[4] to provide Education for Soldiers and their families. References exist to Army Schools, now Army Education Centres, being in operation continually since 1898.[5]
Members of the ETS Branch are entitled to wear blue socks with their Number 2 Service Dress (British Army) uniforms; this is a unique part of their uniform, as a variation of socks is not seen in other units which wear infantry pattern service dress.[7] This stems from a Royal Warrant of 1854 which instructed Army Schoolmasters to wear: "a blue frock-coat, heavily braided in black, and worn with gold shoulder-knots, a sword and a crimson silk sash, and a cap with scarlet band, bearing a crown in gold thread".[8]
ETS is an all officer, all graduate, branch. It provides education to Regular and Reserve Army personnel, helping them to meet the challenges of the 21st century by training for certainty and educating for uncertainty. Officers are primarily employed as follows:[9]
Learning and Development Advisors[10] (LDAs - usually in the rank of Major) who specialise in the analysis, design, delivery and assurance of Defence wide training and educational courses.[11]
Training Development Advisors (TDAs - usually in the rank of Captain) in the Army's Capability Directorates, Army Recruiting and Initial Training Command.[12]
Specialist Language Training Managers within the Defence Centre for Languages and Culture [13] in either Foreign[14] or English Language[15] training. For example, Officer in Command of the Pre-RMAS course for Officer Cadets from foreign militaries attending courses at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.[15]
The original authority for the establishment of Army Education Centres was granted in 1947 for "up to eighty education centres, wherever a concentration of 1500 men or more had displayed a need".[1] Currently, the below are in operation:
An ETS Officer would usually start their career in one of two roles: Learning Development Officer (LDO) in an Army Education Centre, or an instructor at the Army Foundation College Harrogate (AFC(H)).[18] Later roles include: Army Training Regiment (ATR) LDOs or Platoon Commanders, Army School of Education (ASE) Instructor, or assignments in the wider Army.[18]
"I joined the educational corps and taught enlisted boys at Aldershot": "I tried to teach them English, which in most cases meant punctuation and spelling. In some ways it was like Dotheboys Hall, and they used to run away. Towards the end of my two years, I illustrated what I suppose was my first book, a pamphlet called English on Parade."[19]
^Smith, E.A., 1993. The army schoolmaster and the development of elementary education in the army, 1812-1920 (Doctoral dissertation, Institute of Education, University of London).
^Knight, Val (1 April 1978). "The joke that led Leonard Rossiter to stardom...and Rigsby". TVTimes. I was in just before the end of the Japanese war. The war in Germany was over, clearly why I went to Germany at that time...to teach soldiers, most of whom had missed schooling during the war, to read and write. It was weird really. I was immediately made a sergeant. Well you had to have some sort of rank because as a private in the classroom, teaching old soldiers their A, B, C, you'd soon have been given the brush off. I spent most of the time writing their letters home, you know 'Dear Mum...'
^Grave sited at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
Great Britain
British Army
Australia - Royal Australian Army Educational Corps
New Zealand - Royal New Zealand Educational Corps
