The challenges of military education: transforming stricto sensu graduate studies into military sciences

Abstract

Threats or capabilities, how should Brazilian military institutions structure themselves to meet the needs of Brazilian society and the growing expectations of Brazil to become a global player? The Brazilian Army (EB) has sought to adapt to this new moment, seeking to empower its staff and rediscussing its paradigms, for that it has started a broad debate about its "transformation process". In presenting this institution, some central characteristics should be emphasized, namely: the number of approximately 200,000 (two hundred thousand) members, the large number of military organizations, about 650 (six hundred and fifty), the high turnover of career personnel and , having discipline and hierarchy as the basic principles of organizational culture. Brazilian society has demanded from the State public policies that allow national development, but also acts in security, defense and social actions, and it is up to the Institutions to seek answers to these needs, characterized, among others, as public order, border protection, engineering works and support for natural disasters. In this new context, military institutions must be prepared for the new challenges, more agile and responsive to the needs of the population and the global aspirations of this new state. The purpose of this article is to contribute to the debate on the strategic actions that the Brazilian Army has been conducting in the area of ​​military education, especially in the stricto sensu postgraduate degree, to achieve its transformation and how it should be structured and related to each other. meet new defense demands in the 21st century. Brazilian military education is regulated by a specific legislation, as prescribed in the Law of Guidelines and Bases of National Education, which defines in its Art. 42 that “Military education is regulated in a specific law, the equivalence of studies being allowed, according to with the norms set by the education systems. ”(BRAZIL, 1996). Based on this premise and considering the growing demand for defense research, the study intends to present how the stricto sensu graduate, within the transformation environment that the Brazilian Army has promoted over the last two years, can contribute to the teaching and improving civil-military relations in Brazil. In this context, military education has been impacted by internal demands, such as new legislation, prospective scenarios, debates, breaking paradigms and creating new educational structures. Externally, by bringing it closer to the National Education System, students and teachers from various fields, such as Administration, Political Science, International Relations, History and Geography. Another major impact on academic research has been the growing demand from the Defense Industry, both in technology and defense management and policy experts. Finally, this study seeks to verify how the area of ​​military education is being structured in view of the transformation process of EB, with the focus not on the context of the scientific-technological area.