Silver gilt, enamels; 46.7 x 26.2 mm; weighs 18.7 g without the screw plate. Unlike the badge of the Dzerzhinsky Military Institute of MVD / KGB, the badge of this school features plaque with the fully spelled-out name Военный Институт ("Voennyi Institut") instead of the abbreviation ВИ ("VI").

In excellent condition. The enamel is completely intact. The state emblem exhibits practically none of the typical wear to the exposed points; its details remain perfect and crisp, a

Silver gilt, enamels; 46.7 x 26.2 mm; weighs 18.7 g without the screw plate. Unlike the badge of the Dzerzhinsky Military Institute of MVD / KGB, the badge of this school features plaque with the fully spelled-out name Военный Институт ("Voennyi Institut") instead of the abbreviation ВИ ("VI").

In excellent condition. The enamel is completely intact. The state emblem exhibits practically none of the typical wear to the exposed points; its details remain perfect and crisp, and almost all of the original gold plating is still present. The plaque with the name of the academy is likewise perfect, and the black enamel in the letters is completely intact. The reverse shows a very attractive even patina to silver. The screw post is full length, over 9.5 mm long measured from the reverse of the badge, and includes the original square retaining nut and original mint-marked screw plate.

The issue case is in cardboard with rubberized royal-blue finish and removable internal pad for the badge lined in black velvet. The box is in excellent condition, completely sound, clean, and showing only a very light wear to the exterior.

The Military Institute was established in 1940, first as a military department at the Moscow State Institute for Teaching Foreign Languages; two years later, in 1942, it was transformed into an independent school under the name Red Army Institute of Foreign Languages.

Interestingly, the transition took place in the most difficult period of the war against Germany - perhaps reflecting the confidence of the Soviet leadership in ultimate victory. The main purpose of the school was clearly to prepare cadres for military intelligence and GRU espionage network abroad. The school was closed in 1956, part of the overall reduction of the Soviet armed forces (Soviet prospects of immediately taking over the world had gone somewhat dim by that time). Just two years later however, it was resurrected as a department and in 1963 became an independent academy once again. The badges with the "Military Institute" plaque were thus issued only until 1956, since after 1957 all the officially-issued military academy badges did not display the name of the school.

/Avers 8{ p. 496, fig. 2379; Y. Dumanskiy Badges of the Higher Education Establishments of the Armed Forces of the USSR, pp. 67, 68/ (Note that Avers 8 mistakenly refers to this badge as being for graduates of "various military departments").
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