Victoria Academy of Arms and Technology

The Victoria Academy of Arms and Technology is the Capella equivalent to the New Avalon Institute of Science in many ways, especially in the 32^nd century. While technically a military academy, a large portion of its students come for the technician courses along with the more advanced engineering courses. Surprisingly, during the occupation of Victoria by the Federated Suns, the Academy was kept open for its technical courses and even expanded by through a grant from the NAIS.

Recent History

The Victoria Academy of Arms and Technology began an explosive period of growth after the Jihad. Not affected by the worst of the conflict, it became a popular academy for anyone with a modicum of technical knowledge. Even with the difficult entrance exams, it became a point of pride for many Capellan to send their “brighter kids” to the Academy. The military portion of the courses is still included, but many just go to the VAAT for their master’s and doctoral degrees.

Victoria fell to the Federated Suns in 3103 after the Victoria War. Instead of closing the college, the Federated leadership maintained the science and technology courses of the school active, even supplementing it with their own equipment. The military courseload included in these degrees was minimized, with simple small arms training and survival training. When the Confederation reclaimed Victoria in late 3144, the military leadership had to bring many military officers and such to the school in an attempt to revamp its combat classes.

The result of this is still to be seen, as MechWarrior and Armour programs are still a far cry from the quality of training you can get at other academies in Capellan space. However, the scientific and technical programs available are such high quality that there is discussion in splitting off the Victoria Academy of Arms and Technology in two, with an actual technology school instead of a military one.

Atmosphere

Originally, the Victoria Academy of Arms and Technology was very demanding of its military students, wanting them to excel in technological matters as well as martial matters. This has been maintained after the Federated control of the school and expanded. Nowadays, the military competence is far from the first thing to mind. While the survival and small arms training remains at good quality, it generally is seen as an “elective” by most of the students.

Military Unit

The Prefectorate Guard used to recruit most of the most promising students from the Academy. Since they reclaimed the planet, this practice has started again. This would hopefully reverse the current trend of that unit to have poor quality MechWarriors but high-quality infantrymen.