History

The Spanish Navy underwent a series of changes in the 60’s that transformed all its structures. In 1968 a Ministerial Order was issued whereby the doctrine of Plan-Program-Budget was implemented. This was a pioneer policy in the whole General Administration of the State.

The new re-organization gave the Quartermaster Corps new and important functions in a time when novel procedures and techniques, standardization and use of computers, cataloguing and analytic accountancy, as well as the logistic issues related to the transfer of US ships and equipment, made very difficult the implementation of the new structures.

In view of this situation, it became evident that, since it was not possible to increase the Corps' staff, at least its personnel should have the necessary qualifications to face the new challenges. To this end, the Quartermaster General's Office proposed the establishment of a Study Center in charge of providing the necessary training to supply officers to keep their professional knowledge updated at all times throughout the different stages of their careers, as stated in the Ministerial Order 585/70 of August 17, which created the Center for Advanced Quartermaster Studies of the Spanish Navy (CESIA).

In March 1971, the CESIA was inaugurated at the Higher Technical School of Naval Engineers with the first course attended by five colonels and seven lieutenant colonels of the Quartermaster Corps. The inauguration ceremony was presided over by the Minister of the Navy, Admiral Baturone Colombo.

The Center moved its venue in 1977 to the Navy Headquarters, and later, in 1999, to the Spanish Navy facilities in Pío XII, in one of the buildings of the Naval Warfare College.

In its more than four decades of history, the CESIA has been fulfilling the mission entrusted; namely, keeping the professional know-how and expertise of officers of the Quartermaster Corps up to date by teaching Specialties, Aptitudes and Informative Courses, according to the regulations ordered by the Military Education System at each moment, and adapting its contents to the evolution experienced by the regulations, techniques and the changing environment in which the Quartermaster Corps of the Navy carries out its tasks. Catalogued in its beginnings as a School of Higher Education, according to the regulations of the time, it is currently a Military Teaching Center of Advanced Studies, as contemplated in article 53 of the current Law of the Military Career.

The latest milestone in the history of the Center has been the establishment of a collaboration agreement with the ‘Complutense’ University of Madrid (UCM) for the design and development of an Official University Master's Degree of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) in Logistics and Economic Management, whose first edition took place in the 2011-2012 academic year. This Master’s Degree, which is taught in the facilities of the UCM (Somosaguas Campus) and CESIA, is part of the collaboration of the Ministry of Defense with Universities and other educational institutions promoted by the aforementioned Law of Military Career, and takes advantage of the experience accumulated by CESIA in teaching in these two areas throughout its history.