At the \u201cHenri Coand\u0103\u201d Air Force Academy in Bra\u0219ov, in central Romania, the Erasmus+ international semester brings together military students from Romania, Bulgaria, and Poland. Future specialists in missiles, radar, and air defence systems participate together in the same courses, labs, and practical activities, in a program that brings them closer not only professionally but also personally.<\/p>\n
Lieutenant Colonel Cristian Ene, senior instructor in the Department of Missiles and Air Defence Artillery, says the program has evolved significantly since last year\u2019s pilot edition: \u201cThis semester began last year as a pilot semester. At that time, the subjects differed from our students\u2019 curriculum, but were somewhat similar. Starting this year, the subjects are the same\u201d, <\/em>she told us.<\/p>\n The courses follow the same curriculum as that of second-year Romanian students. But beyond the technical subjects and the 240 hours of training, the experience also involves adapting to an international environment where English becomes part of daily life. Piotr Maci\u0105g, a Polish student specializing in radio and radar engineering, says this is the biggest difference he has noticed at the Bra\u0219ov Academy: \u201cI\u2019m from Poland and this is my first time in Romania, on an Erasmus program. I have to say that the biggest difference is that I hear English all the time. For me, it\u2019s very important to improve my English communication skills. Otherwise, almost everything is very similar to our academy. The education, the housing\u2014everything I find here is similar to what we have in our country.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The Polish student says that, for him, the city has also become a familiar landmark: \u201cBra\u0219ov is very beautiful. To me, it\u2019s very similar to Krak\u00f3w, except that it\u2019s nestled among the mountains. And that\u2019s a bonus.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n For Antonio Mirkov, a Bulgarian student on his first Erasmus+ experience, integrating into the Romanian academic environment happened faster than he expected: \u201cI really like the academy and the atmosphere here. Interacting with the other cadets is, I don\u2019t know why, somehow easier than at the military academies in Bulgaria. Here, the cadets are friendlier, and many of them are quick to help you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Antonio Mirkov also says he appreciates the teaching style of the Romanian instructors, as well as daily life in Bra\u0219ov: \u201cThe teachers are calmer here, and the material they prepare for the courses is very well organized. I really like it here; I like the food at the academy, in the cafeteria, and also in town.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Romanian students who accompany them throughout the program also play an important role in helping foreign students settle in. Corporal Ovidiu Chirila\u0219 says that their relationships have changed a lot since they started sharing rooms: \u201cWe are sort of the link between them and the staff in charge of this program; we are sort of their voice, and we are also the staff\u2019s voice at the same time. We try to make everything as comfortable as possible. At first, when they arrived, we put them in separate rooms, but then we started putting them in rooms with us, and it worked. Anyway, they came with that mindset\u2014to be very open from the very beginning.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n For these young people studying radar systems, air defence, and modern military technologies, the experience in Bra\u0219ov also serves as a real-world exercise in cooperation among future officers from allied nations, who are learning even during their training to communicate, work together, and understand one another as partners. (MI)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At the \u201cHenri Coand\u0103\u201d Air Force Academy in Bra\u0219ov, in central Romania, the Erasmus+ international semester brings together military students from Romania, Bulgaria, and Poland. Future specialists in missiles, radar, and air defence systems participate together in the same courses, labs, and practical activities, in a program that brings them closer not only professionally but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":724538,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45758],"tags":[],"coauthors":[113285],"class_list":["post-1019084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-romania-the-eastern-flank"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n