Council of Military Education Committees of the Universities of the United Kingdom
 | |
| Formation | 1919 |
|---|---|
Membership | 20 University Military Education Committees |
President | General Sir Peter Wall |
Key people |
Mr. Roderick Livingston (Chairman) Mr. Bryden Ritchie (Vice-Chairman) Mr. Jason Norris (Secretary) Prof. Patton Taylor (Treasurer) |
| Website | http://www.comec.org.uk/ |
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.[1] 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.
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.[2]
Members
President
2017 on General Sir Peter Wall GCB CBE DL, former Chief of the General Staff
2011 - 2017 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)[3]
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.
| Military Education Committee | Member Universities |
|---|---|
| Aberdeen MEC | Aberdeen and Robert Gordon |
| Bristol MEC | Bristol, Bath and West of England |
| Cambridge MEC | Cambridge, East Anglia, Essex and Anglia Ruskin |
| East Midlands Combined MEC | Nottingham, De Montfort, Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Loughborough and Nottingham Trent |
| City of Edinburgh Joint MEC | Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh Napier and Queen Margaret |
| Exeter MEC | Exeter and Plymouth |
| Glasgow and Strathclyde MEC [4] | Glasgow, Strathclyde, Glasgow Caledonian and West of Scotland |
| Leeds’ Military, Air Force and Naval Education Committee | Leeds |
| Liverpool MEC | Liverpool, Lancaster, Liverpool John Moores and Central Lancashire |
| London MEC | King's College, UCL, Imperial, SOAS, Brunel, South Bank and Kent |
| Manchester and Salford MEC | Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan and Salford |
| Northumbrian MEC | Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teesside |
| Oxford Delegacy for Military Instruction | Oxford, Oxford Brookes, Reading, Royal Agricultural and Gloucestershire |
| Queen's Belfast MEC | Queen's Belfast and Ulster |
| Sheffield MEC | Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam |
| Southampton MEC | Southampton, Portsmouth, Southampton Solent, Bournemouth and Winchester |
| Sussex MEC | Sussex and Brighton |
| Tayforth MEC | St. Andrews, Dundee and Abertay |
| MEC for Wales | Cardiff, Aberystwyth, Bangor, Swansea, Cardiff Metropolitan, South Wales, Wrexham Glyndwr, Trinity Saint David and Chester |
| West Midlands MEC | Birmingham and Aston |
University Service Units (USUs)[5]
University Royal Naval Units (URNUs)[6]
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 Royal Naval Unit | Ship | Universities |
|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | HMS Exploit | Birmingham, Aston, Loughborough, Warwick, Birmingham City |
| Bristol URNU | HMS Dasher | Bristol, Bath, West of England |
| Cambridge URNU | HMS Trumpeter | Cambridge, East Anglia, Anglia Ruskin |
| Devon URNU | - | Exeter, Plymouth, UC St Mark & St John |
| Edinburgh URNU | HMS Archer | Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh Napier |
| Glasgow & Strathclyde URNU | HMS Pursuer | Glasgow, Strathclyde, Glasgow Caledonian |
| Liverpool | HMS Charger | Liverpool, Lancaster |
| London URNU | HMS Puncher | London, Imperial College, University College, King's College, Queen Mary |
| Manchester & Salford URNU | HMS Biter | Manchester, Salford, Manchester Metropolitan |
| Northumbrian URNU | HMS Example | Newcastle, Durham, Northumbria |
| Oxford URNU | HMS Smiter | Oxford, Reading, Oxford Brookes |
| Southampton URNU | HMS Blazer | Southampton, Southampton Solent, Portsmouth |
| Sussex | HMS Ranger | Sussex, Brighton |
| Wales URNU | HMS Express | Cardiff, Swansea, South Wales, Wales Institute Cardiff |
| Yorkshire | HMS Explorer | Leeds, Sheffield, Hull |
University Officers' Training Corps (UOTCs)[7]
UOTCs were inaugurated from 1908 onwards.
University Air Squadrons (UASs)[8]
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)[9]
The Defence Technical Officer Engineering Entry Scheme (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.
| DTUS Squadron | Partner Universities |
|---|---|
| Taurus | Birmingham, Aston, Oxford |
| Thunderer | Southampton, Imperial College, Portsmouth |
| Trojan | Newcastle, Northumbria, Strathclyde |
| Typhoon | Loughborough, Cambridge |
Chairman[10]
2016 on Mr. Roderick Livingston (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 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 (Glasgow MEC)
1921 - 1926 Prof. Sir Thomas Hudson Beare DL (Edinburgh MEC)
1919 - 1921 Prof. Thomas Frederick Tout (Manchester MEC)
Occasional Papers[11]
No. 11: Trustworthiness in Public Life by Onora O’Neill, and National Resilience and the Developing Civil-Military Relationship by David Omand, 2018
No. 10: COMEC Rejoinder. The Value of the University Armed Service Units by Dr. Patrick Mileham, 2017
No. 9: War in Peacetime. Ambiguous Warfare and the Resurgence of the Russian Military by Christopher Donnelly, 2017
No. 8: Air Power by Michael Graydon and Andrew Lambert, 2018
No. 7: The University Air Squadrons. Early Years 1920-39 by Clive Richards, 2016
No. 6: Britain's Maritime Future by Jeremy Blackham and Andrew Lambert, 2016
No. 5: Reshaping the British Nuclear Deterrent by Lord David Owen, 2015
No. 4: University Officers’ Training Corps and the First World War by Edward M. Spiers, 2014
No. 3: Leadership in Future Force 2020 by General Sir Richard Barrons, 2014
No. 2: The Conundrum of Leadership - Leadership in Government, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Society by Lord Owen, 2013
No. 1: University Service Units. What are they really for? by Dr. Patrick Mileham, 2012
References
- ↑ COMEC Constitution 2008 p5-6
- ↑ COMEC Constitution 2008 p16
- ↑ COMEC website members
- ↑ Military Education Committee of the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde website
- ↑ MoD TSP7 - UK Reserve Forces and Cadets 1 April 2015 p27
- ↑ Army website UOTCs
- ↑ Royal Air Force website UASs
- ↑ Defence Academy website DTUS
- ↑ COMEC Constitution 2008 p15
- ↑ COMEC website publications