Quote Originally Posted by ganulv View Post
During the run-up to the recent Royal Wedding I was doing background reading and was introduced to the existence of the RMAS. Am I correct in my understanding that an important difference between the U.S. and British systems is the lack of a similar institution in the U.S.?
Yes and No.

The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) is a bit like the Westpoint and the other military academies in the US in that it is a route (in the UK it is the only route) to commissioning. It differs in that it is not a degree awarding institution. The one year RMAS course is primarily designed to develop firstly robust leadership, and secondly a basic level of professional military knowledge. A large part of the syllabus is spent in the field on tactical exercises as a way of developing leadership (with a side benefit of developing tactical proficiency).