A brevet d'état-major (French) or stafbrevet (Dutch), both literally "general staff brevet", is a form of military distinction in France and Belgium which denotes that an officer has completed a course at a military academy.[1] A recipient is entitled to have breveté d'état-major (BEM) or stafbrevethouder (SBH) used as part of their formal title after their military rank, for example "Colonel BEM Émile Gilbert".
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/SBH_kenteken_koper_2.jpg/220px-SBH_kenteken_koper_2.jpg)
In France, the distinction was awarded between 1870 and 1940 after passing a course at the École Supérieure de Guerre.
A BEM was awarded for studying a one-year course known as a "Cycle d'études supérieures d'état-major" at the École de Guerre in Brussels, however, this was changed to a much more lengthy course and its bestowal only after being considered by a military panel.[2]
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ Various (1988). Geschiedenis van het Belgisch Leger. Vol. II: van 1920 tot heden. Centrum voor historische dokumentatie van de Krijgsmacht.
- ^ "IRSD Sujet Histoire Page 4". www.mil.be. Archived from the original on 2007-07-03.