The Military Council, currently engaged in multiple active fronts across the country and with a substantial deployment of troops on the front lines, is actively seeking young individuals who have successfully completed their university matriculation to apply as cadets for enrollment in the Defense Services Academies.
Citing the Ministry of Defense, the newspapers under the Military Council have announced that applications for cadets at the Defense Services Academy (DSA), Defense Services Medical Academy (DSMA), and Defense Services Technological Academy (DSTA) are now available free of charge starting from June 12th. These academies serve as primary sources for future officers within the Military Council.
To be eligible for admission to the three academies, applicants must meet the age requirement of being at least 16 years old and no older than 19 years and 6 months on January 1st of 2024.
However, after the coup in 2021, the Military Council conducted its first cadet recruitment, setting an age limit of no younger than 16 and no older than 18 for the following year.
According to political analyst U Than Soe Naing, there is a possibility that the rules for recruiting cadets have been relaxed due to the widespread public discontent with the Myanmar military, resulting in reduced interest in joining them.
"The era of regarding military officers as privileged elites has faded into the past. No matter how hard the Military Council tries to convince, their academies will never witness a significant influx of cadets again. Nowadays, only a meager few offspring of military families consider applying to these academies as new cadets. The majority of the population harbors deep animosity towards the Myanmar Military, keeping their distance. It appears that the rules are being loosened as a desperate attempt to replenish their cadet ranks”, he told Than Lwin Times.
In 2021, following the coup earlier that year, the Military Council faced a challenge when recruiting new cadets as the number of applicants was significantly low. In response to this situation, Junta leaders decided to extend the deadline for receiving application forms by an additional 2 months, citing the Covid-19 pandemic as the reason for the extension.
According to insiders familiar with the Officers' Technical Training (OTT) program, it was reported that in 2021, the Military Council's three academies received a relatively low number of approximately 400 applicants each.
Former Captain Kaung Thu Win, who actively participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), corroborated the information that the number of cadets at the Military Council's three academies dwindled to just a few hundred each following the coup.
"In the aftermath of the coup, there has been a notable decline in the number of cadets attending the Military Council's academies. Specifically, for the Defense Services Academy (DSA) alone, we can expect around 100 to 200 cadets. As for the Defense Services Medical Academy (DSMA), which used to admit approximately 500 trainees in previous years, the current attendance of cadets is now limited to a few hundred”, he informed Than Lwin Times.
Prior to the coup, spanning from 2000 to 2010, DSA alone received a substantial number of applicants for admission annually, ranging from 1000 to 2000. In accordance with the requirements, the academies produced over 1000 to nearly 2000 young officers who successfully graduated each year, Captain Kaung Thu Win added.
In 2021, the Military Council orchestrated the coup, leading to a series of violent crackdowns on dissenters, which subsequently sparked the Spring Revolution. As a response to the dictatorship, the People's Defense Force (PDF) emerged as a new armed opposition force.
The aftermath of the coup has shattered any prospects of fostering understanding and reconciliation between the Myanmar Military and the general populace, rendering them irreparable. Moreover, the aspirations of young individuals to pursue military careers have waned significantly. Previously considered as significant recruitment pools for the Myanmar Military, Sagaing and Magway Regions have transformed into strongholds of the revolution, with resolute resistance against the Military Council becoming a daily occurrence.
Political observers and members within the Myanmar Military community anticipated that only a limited number of offspring from military families and staunch supporters of the Junta will enroll in the three academies where the Military Council is currently conducting recruitments for new cadets.
