Qualla: Republic of China Air Force Academy

Republic of China Air Force Academy: Introduction

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit 玄史生, CC BY-SA 3.0. The academy has been running from conflict since the day it was born. Established in Nanjing in 1928 as the Central Army Academy's Aviation Corps, it was reorganized the next year, moved to Hangzhou in 1931, renamed in 1932, and upgraded to Air Force Academy in 1938 -- all while Japan was closing in. After the Battle of Shanghai and the Battle of Nanjing, the school fled to Kunming's Wujiaba airbase in Yunnan province. When the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949, it crossed the Taiwan Strait entirely and landed in Gangshan, Kaohsiung, where it has remained. The Republic of China Air Force Academy is an institution shaped not by one campus but by the long geography of retreat.

Image: 玄史生 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Republic of China Air Force Academy: From Nanjing to Gangshan

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit 玄史生, CC0. The academy's wartime migrations trace the arc of twentieth-century Chinese history. Its founding in 1928 coincided with the early years of the Republic of China, when military modernization was urgent and aviation was the frontier of warfare. The move from Nanjing's Dajiaochang ...

Image: 玄史生 | CC0

Republic of China Air Force Academy: Wings Over Gangshan

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Chongkian, CC BY-SA 3.0. Today's campus in Gangshan District sits in northern Kaohsiung, accessible by the Kaohsiung Metro from Kaohsiung Medical University Gangshan Hospital station. The academy divides its curriculum between general and military education. The general field encompasses five departments...

Image: Chongkian | CC BY-SA 3.0

Republic of China Air Force Academy: Aces and Premiers

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit 總統府, CC BY 2.0. The academy's alumni list reads like a compressed history of Taiwan's military and political leadership. Gao Youxin and Yue Yiqin were flying aces during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the conflict that first drove the school into exile. Hua Hsi-chun became a pilot, a general, and...

Image: 總統府 | CC BY 2.0

Republic of China Air Force Academy: An Academy's Lesson

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit 玄史生, CC0. What distinguishes the Republic of China Air Force Academy from its counterparts elsewhere is not its facilities or curriculum but its biography. Most military academies project permanence: stone buildings, parade grounds, traditions rooted in a single hallowed location. This one...

Image: 玄史生 | CC0