This thesis traces the stages which led to the establishment of the Australian Defence Force Academy. The origins of the Academy are to be found in the 1950s. The perceived need for highly qualified technical officers to handle the technological demands of the future was complemented by a perception that officers with degree-level education would be better equipped to make decisions and provide strategic advice to government than their less educated counterparts. The emergence of the tri-Service Academy concept is discussed in some detail to highlight the constantly increasing involvement in the proposal by people and organisations from outside the defence community. The struggle between the three Services, eager to retain control over their officers' education, and the Department of Defence with its ambition to rationalise common defence functions, is described. The heated debate over the proposal to establish an armed forces university resulted in the rejection of the proposal by the Parliament Standing Committee on Public Works. The response from the Government and the Department of Defence was a modified proposal, acceptable to most of Casey University's critics, but flawed in its basic structure. Some aspects of the Academy's performance are described and compared to the performance and experiences of the Australian single-Service colleges which preceded it and some comparable overseas institutions. The paper concludes by revisiting some of the proposals presented as alternative models for the Academy during the Public Works Committee hearings in 1978/9. These may well provide a sound basis for the future development of the Australian Defence Force Academy.