Brevet d'état-major

A Brevet d'état-major (French; literally "Staff Officer Brevet"), commonly abbreviated to BEM, is a military distinction in France and Belgium which denotes that an officer has passed Staff College. Though it is usually only seen in French, it can be abbreviated to SBH in Dutch.

In France, the distinction was awarded between 1870 and 1940 after passing a course at the then-École Supérieure de Guerre.

A BEM was awarded for studying a one-year course known as a "Cycle d’études supérieures d’état-major" at the then-École de Guerre in Brussels, however, this was changed to a much more lengthy course and its bestowal only after being considered by a military panel.

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