History
General Albacete Fuster Marine Corps School
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Training and teaching has been a constant feature of the Marine Corps over the years. A clear example of this endeavor is the MC School ‘General Albacete y Fuster’.
King Fernando VII established in January 1827 the Marine Corps Royal Brigade merging the former MC Regiment and the Artillery Brigades. In connection with this Royal Brigade, a training academy was also founded which can be considered as the embryo of the future Marine Corps School .
After several vicissitudes during the turbulent 19th century, King Alfonso XII finally set up the so-called Marine Corps Academy in 1879 thanks to the efforts and interest of Field Marshall José Montero. This first Academy had four Sections:
- First Section:: School of Young Soldiers
- Second Section:: Candidates to become Corporals
- Third Section:: Non-Commissioned Officers aspiring to become Officers
- Fourth Section:: Candidates to become Officers
The first director of the academy, named after him, was Colonel Joaquín Albacete y Fuster. In 1971 the training center for Marines moved to Cartagena (Murcia) ‘with the purpose of selecting, classifying, teaching and training both volunteer soldiers and conscripts, and turn them into MC Corporals’. In 1999 the compulsory Military Service was abolished and only professional servicemen attended the School.