Air Force Academy
Insignia of the Air Force Academy
Active	2005-
Country	Finland
Branch	Finnish Air Force
Role	Air defense training
Garrison/HQ	Tikkakoski
March	Sotamarssi
Insignia
Former distinctive unit insignia (2005 - 2015)
Insignia of the Finnish Air Force
Flag of the Air Force Academy

The Air Force Academy (Finnish: Ilmasotakoulu, abbr. ILMASK; Swedish: Luftkrigsskolan) is located at Tikkakoski in Jyväskylä, Finland. The primary mission of the Air Force Academy is to train warfighting airmen who can carry out their missions even under the most strenuous conditions. This includes conscripts, active duty personnel, and special forces such as pilots, aircraft and helicopter mechanics, and air surveillance controllers. The Air Force Academy also trains conscripts for general military operations. While training is primarily geared to serve air base functions, several conscripts are trained for jobs in the control and reporting centres. The Air Force Academy comprises a headquarters and a Communication Systems Training Flight, an Aircraft and Weapon Systems Training Flight, Reserve Non-Commissioned Officer Training School, and a Reserve Officer Training School.

Initial pilot training was formerly given in the Air Force Academy in Kauhava, but basic training was branched off as a separate unit and moved to Tikkakoski in 2005. At the same time, the Kauhava unit changed its name to Training Air Wing and was later disbanded in 2014. The new unit in Tikkakoski retained the name Air Force Academy.

The academy's insignia is known for having a swastika, whereas other countries have demonetized the symbol due to its heavy use by the Nazi Party in the Second World War. However, the swastika remains a symbol of good luck and prosperity in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain countries such as Nepal, India, Thailand, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, China, and Japan, and by some peoples, such as the Navajo people of the Southwest United States. As such, the academy is considered the only military left on Earth that uses the swastika.

See also[edit]

• Valmet L-70 Vinka

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• The Air Force Academy
• The Air Force Academy for conscripts

62°23′52″N 25°36′12″E / 62.3978°N 25.6034°E / 62.3978; 25.6034

Military units and formations of the Finnish Air Force