The South African Defence Force's increasing involvement in the Border War from the mid-1970s produced an increased demand for junior officers, with the result that the Defence Force decided that junior officers should be "task qualified" within their respective services before becoming eligible for admission to the military academy. The degree course at the military academy was thus excluded from the development cycle of junior officers from 1976; admittance to the academy then became an option for those who wished to obtain a university degree.