The Brest Naval Training Centre (the Centre d'instruction naval de Brest, or CIN) is one of the main training centres for the French Navy. Housed in the Brest naval base, the CIN is made up of the lycée naval (a lycée that also prepares students to enter France's officer-training schools), the École de maistrance (training future naval non-commissioned officers) and the seamen's training school.

The environment

The Naval Instruction Centre groups the Lycée Naval (a naval high school), the École de Maistrance (training the future Navy's sub-officers) and the École des Mousses (seaman's school). This centre is above the Naval base.

Lycée Naval

The lycée naval was created in 1966 as collège naval. It is one of France's six military high schools under custody of the French ministry of Defence. The school has two missions: to help the families and to help the Navy's recruitment. The lycée naval is divided in two parts separated for the teaching:

History

Admission's conditions

École de Maistrance

The École de maistrance (school of mastery) is the training school for future non-commissioned officers in the French Navy. It was set up in 1933 under this name, it is now part of the Brest Naval Training Centre and within the remit of the Direction du personnel militaire de la marine (DPPM). It is currently headed by capitaine de frégate Gabriel Steffe. The school has an annual intake of up to 400 young people aged 18 to 25, from "bac à bac +2" level - on 14 July 2008, for example, it had 224 students in total, including 55 women. The initial course lasts 18 weeks, followed by 6 months' specialist training (3.5 years for medical students) and 3 weeks complementary training in management. Students wear the rank badge of a "second maître maistrancier" (equivalent to quartermaster, 1st class), with the blue stripes bordered in red, and become second maîtres on graduation. In 1958 the École de maistrance received the banner of the École des mousses, decorated with the Légion d'honneur, the Croix de guerre 1914-1918, the Croix de guerre 1939-1945 and the Croix de guerre des Théâtres d'opérations extérieures.

École des Mousses

The École des Mousses (Seaman's school) has a co-educational role of 240 each year. The school trains future sailors of the Marine nationale, the French navy. It was founded in 1856 by Napoleon III.