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34 Proc. on L. Outer Space 187 (1991)
Space Law in Military Academics in North America

handle is hein.space/pininsl0034 and id is 203 raw text is: SPACE LAW IN MILITARY ACADEMIES IN NORTH AMERICA
Dr. Louis Haeck*
Military lecturer at the Department of Strategic Studies
Royal Military College of Saint-Jean
Province of Quebec, Canada

Abstract
In this essay, Major Haeck, a Canadian officer,
describes the typical choice of education for
an officer on a military or civilian campus.
He explains the small difference in the teaching
staff between the United States of America and
Canada. He insists on the officer cadets study-
ing at the undergraduate level in military
academies. He then stresses the benefit of space
education in NORAD and underlines the success of
their space wing crew in the recent Middle East
conflict where the allied forces utilized avail-
able space technology. He congratulates the
leadership of military lawyers of the USAF (JAG)
to promote space law. Further on he analyses the
space law courses available in Canadian Military
Colleges with a multi-disciplinary approach as
being part of a strategic studies or space science
programme. He stipulates the vital importance of
a clear national space policy for any military
operations in outer space and suggests that a
an optional course in space law (minimum 45 hours)
be offered to interested officers in the Univ-
ersity curriculum. Finally he hopes that NATO
forces will publish a common manual for their
officers on space law and concludes with a note
of eternity by a prayer for peace in space.
Five years ago in the neutral country of
Austria, the International Institute of Space
Law held its 29th Annual meeting in Innsbruck
from October 4 to October 11, 1986.
In the Proceedings of the twenty-ninth Colloq-
uium on the Law of Outer Space published by
The American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics you can read many scholarly
articles on space law teaching and the
history of space law. The authors are jurists
from the North and South. Some lawyers are
from member countries of the North Atlantic
Treaty Organisation (NATO) and others from the
old Warsaw Pact countries, while still others
are legal experts from the Third World or are
international public servants.
From that 1986 Colloquium you can find
several excellent articles; in three of the
four sessions are articles from military
officers on space law. Typical university
teachers and students in space law are
civilians working on public or private
campuses open to the general public. My
topic is space law in military academies in
North America.
*Member of IISL and Senior Researcher at the
McGill University Centre of Air and Space
Law. This paper is strictly my personal opinion
and does not necessarily reflect the views of
the Department of National Defence.
Copyrighte 1991 by L. Haeck. Published by the American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., with
permission.
187

However, in many countries you will find some
students in space law and professors who must
be in uniform while on duty in their university.
On a military campus these students are most
often officer cadets of the armed forces.
Their teachers could only be military scholars
as at the United States Air Force Academy
and West Point or as in the three Royal
Military Colleges in Canada, a mix of
post-graduate scholars both in civilian
clothes and military uniform, acting as
professors. (1).
One thing common to these military academies
or de facto military universities is the
dedication of the academic staff and the
excellent facilities. The high caliber
in the selection of officers for these
campuses is guaranteed by a national
competition among the best. Most of the
academic staff has post graduate studies
and extensive experience in research. They
are selected carefully to continue the
high instruction standards required to form
the future elite of the officer corps of
their respective country. Most generals or
admirals are chosen from these military
universities.
The officer cadets to be accepted must pass
a rigorous series of examinations and
tests. (2) It is a very challenging national
competitTon among the interested graduates
of all the High Schools of the country
(private and public). Many students would
like to attend these military academies
but each campus can only accept a very
limited number of officer cadets. In the
United States each branch of the service,
the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and
Coast Guard have their own academy. While
in Canada, irrespective of which branch of
the military service you will serve, you
can attend any one of our three military
academies offering different academic
specialisation to our officers.
I choose to limit my remarks to the
undergraduate levels only where space law
is one popular subject among topics that an
officer cadet can choose in his academic
curriculum.
Our senior officers (above the rank of Major)
can also receive some further limited space
law education at various military institutions
for their post graduate military qualification.
However, if they wish to obtain a university
law degree with a specialisation in space law
they will have to attend a civilian university.

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