History of UPNM
The history of Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) began with the establishment of the Malaysian Armed Forces Academy (Akademi Tentera Malaysia, ATMA) on 1 June 1995.
ATMA was entrusted with the responsibility of conducting undergraduate academic programmes and military training for Officer Cadets of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF). Its role was later expanded, and ATMA was officially gazetted as UPNM on 10 November 2006.
Although UPNM admitted its first cohort of students in the 2007/2008 academic session, it had in fact accumulated 11 years of experience in conducting undergraduate programmes from 1995 to 2006 through a collaborative programme between the Ministry of Defence and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. During this period, approximately 1,017 graduates were produced in three major fields: Engineering, Science, and Management. In addition to obtaining professional qualifications, all graduates were commissioned as officers of the Malaysian Armed Forces and are currently serving in various units of the Malaysian Army, the Royal Malaysian Navy, and the Royal Malaysian Air Force.
