Formation 1919 | ||
Membership 20 University Military Education Committees President General Sir Mike Jackson Key people Mr. Roderick Livingston (Chairman)
Dr. Patrick Mileham (Vice-Chairman)
Mr. Robin Thomas (Secretary)
Prof. Patton Taylor (Treasurer) Website | ||
The Council of Military Education Committees of the Universities of the United Kingdom (COMEC) represents the interests of Military Education Committees in negotiations with Defence and the Armed Forces over policy development in officer training, the University Service Units and the Reserve Forces. COMEC organizes an Annual Defence Conference, publishes Occasional Papers and awards a Prize to the Officer Cadet who demonstrates outstanding achievement in leadership through military expertise, public service commitment and Service Unit activities.
Contents
- President
- Military Education Committees MECs
- University Royal Naval Units URNUs3
- University Officers Training Corps UOTCs13
- University Air Squadrons UASs33
- Defence Technical Undergraduate Scheme DTUS
- Chairman
- Occasional Papers
- References
The Central Organisation of Military Education Committees of the Universities and University Colleges was established in September 1919 following a conference of representatives of Military Education Committees of universities. The name was changed in 1970 to the Council of Military Education Committees of the Universities of the United Kingdom in order to express clearly the fact that it was not an organisation with an executive role but rather an advisory and coordinating body. Provision was also made at this time for the representation of universities and other institutions of higher education not furnishing Service Units.
President
2011 on General Sir Mike Jackson GCB CBE DSO DL, former Chief of the General Staff
2006 - 2011 Sir Graeme Davies FRSE FREng, Vice-Chancellor of the University of London
1999 - 2006 Field Marshal The Lord Vincent of Coleshill GBE KCB DSO, former Chief of the Defence Staff
Military Education Committees (MECs)
The University Service Units have their origins in the Army reforms of Richard Haldane, Secretary of State for War, from 1905 to 1908. In the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act of 1907, the Universities were invited to establish Officers’ Training Corps on the stipulation that they must have a Committee responsible for Military Education.
University Royal Naval Units (URNUs)[3]
MECs facilitated the establishment during the Second World War of the University Naval Division, which vanished with the end of war, not to be resurrected for another quarter of a century as the Royal Naval Unit in 1971.
University Officers' Training Corps (UOTCs)[13]
UOTCs were inaugurated from 1908 onwards.
University Air Squadrons (UASs)[33]
University Air Squadrons were created at Cambridge and Oxford in 1925 and at London in 1935, but all were closed down with the outbreak of war in 1939. MECs sponsored in 1941 the inauguration of the national scheme for establishing Air Squadrons in Universities.
Defence Technical Undergraduate Scheme (DTUS)
The Defence Technical Officer Engineering Entry Scheme [49] (DTOEES) provides education and support to students preparing for a career as an engineer or technical officer in the Armed Forces or MOD Civil Service. Students attend Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College (DSFC) and, on completion of their A levels, go on to study for an engineering, technical, business or logistics degree at one of the DTUS partner universities.
Defence Technical Undergraduate Scheme (DTUS) universities have separate partnership agreements with the Ministry of Defence to educate and support students from Welbeck attending selected degree courses in a range of subjects preparing for a career as a technical officer or engineer in the Armed Forces or Ministry of Defence. Students belong to a support Squadron which is responsible for their leadership development, mentorship, administration and monitoring their academic progress.
Chairman
2016 on Mr. Roderick Livingston [50] (Glasgow and Strathclyde MEC)
2012 - 2016 Prof. Dick Clements MBE (Bristol MEC)
2004 - 2012 Prof. Donald Ritchie CBE DL (Liverpool MEC)
2000 - 2004 Mr. Shane Guy AE (London MEC)
1996 - 2000 Prof. Michael Furmston TD (Bristol MEC)
1989 - 1996 Col. Alan Roberts OBE TD DL (Leeds MEC)
1982 - 1989 Prof. Malcolm N Naylor RD DL (London MEC)
1968 - 1982 Prof. Cecil Howard Tonge TD (Northumbrian MEC)
1963 - 1968 Brig. Thomas Rice Henn CBE (Cambridge MEC)
1959 - 1963 Prof. John Thomas Whetton [51] DSO OBE MC TD (Leeds MEC)
1953 - 1959 Brig. Sir Alick Buchanan-Smith CBE TD JP DL (Edinburgh MEC)
1946 - 1953 Col. S J Worsley DSO MC TD (London MEC)
1936 - 1946 Prof. J A Nixon CMG (Bristol MEC)
1926 - 1936 Prof. Dudley Medley [52] (Glasgow MEC)
1921 - 1926 Prof. Sir Thomas Hudson Beare DL (Edinburgh MEC)
1919 - 1921 Prof. Thomas Frederick Tout (Manchester MEC)
Occasional Papers
No. 7: The University Air Squadrons. Early Years 1920-39 [53] by Clive Richards, 2016
No. 6: Britain's Maritime Future [54] by Jeremy Blackham and Andrew Lambert, 2016
No. 5: Reshaping the British Nuclear Deterrent [55] by Lord David Owen, 2015
No. 4: University Officers’ Training Corps and the First World War [56] by Edward M. Spiers, 2014
No. 3: Leadership in Future Force 2020 [57] by General Sir Richard Barrons, 2014
No. 2: The Conundrum of Leadership - Leadership in Government, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Society [58] by Lord Owen, 2013
No. 1: University Service Units. What are they really for? [59] by Dr. Patrick Mileham, 2012