ABOUT ZSC
The ZSC was established on 18 April 1980 as the successor to the Rhodesian Directorate of Military Studies to provide Command and Staff training for officers of the Zimbabwe National Army.It started running in November 1980 and 6 consecutive Junior Staff Courses (JSC) of six weeks were run.In 1984, the ZSC expanded into 2 Divisions, namely the Junior Division and the Intermediate Division.The main feature of this organisation was that the JSC and Intermediate Staff Course (ISC) were running concurrently. Each of these courses had a capacity of 30 student officers.
After extensive studies on staff requirements, the ISC gave way to the Command and Staff course (CSC)in 1986 which was officially opened by the then Prime Minister, Honourable Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe. In 1996 the ZSC was transformed from being a ZNA training establishment to a Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) training establishment.This development was a result of the introduced unified command structure in the ZDF. The college is now going through a metamorphosis of adopting a joint training outlook. The College started runnning a Joint Command and Staff Course (JCSC) in January 1996 and to date thirty-one JCSCs have been run with the thirty-two is currently running. Two JSC and one JCSC are run per year.
BACKGROUND
The ZSC was established on 18 April 1980 as the successor to the Rhodesian Directorate of Military Studies to provide Command and Staff training for officers of the Zimbabwe National Army.It started running in November 1980 and 6 consecutive Junior Staff Courses (JSC) of six weeks were run.In 1984, the ZSC expanded into 2 Divisions, namely the Junior Division and the Intermediate Division.The main feature of this organisation was that the JSC and Intermediate Staff Course (ISC) were running concurrently. Each of these courses had a capacity of 30 student officers.
After extensive studies on staff requirements, the ISC gave way to the Command and Staff course (CSC)in 1986 which was officially opened by the then Prime Minister, Honourable Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe. In 1996 the ZSC was transformed from being a ZNA training establishment to a Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) training establishment.This development was a result of the introduced unified command structure in the ZDF. The college is now going through a metamorphosis of adopting a joint training outlook. The College started runnning a Joint Command and Staff Course (JCSC) in January 1996 and to date thirty-one JCSCs have been run with the thirty-two is currently running. Two JSC and one JCSC are run per year.
ZSC BADGE
From 1980 to 1983 the ZSC badge depicted an owl, spear and a quill surmounted by the Zimbawe bird. It was adopted from the crest used by the Staff College Camberly, since 1968 which shows an owl and crossed swords representing Wisdom and War respectively, symbolising the expectation that students would acquire military knowledge during their time at the Staff College. Many military Staff Colleges aligned to the Commonwealth use badges depicting an owl.
However, the owl has the unfortunate cannotations of witchcraft in both Shona and Ndebele Culture. In 1983 it was resolved that the symbol was not appropriate for the ZSC and accordingly, a new badge depicting the hare represents wisdom is affectionately nicknamed ‘Dr Kalulu’ together with an open book of and a quill, representing the tools of the staff officer’s trade was designed and formally adopted in June 1983. A laurel wreath surrounds these three symbols with a scroll bearing the ZSC motto: ‘To Win Peace Study War‘. The Zimbabwe bird and the national star surmount all this. At the foot is another scroll bearing the title “Zimbabwe Staff College”.
