Abstract
<jats:p>The 145th anniversary of the establishment of the "Ioan Vodă" Artillery and Missile Application School offers the opportunity not only for a historical assessment, but also for a reflection on the profound meaning of the military tradition and the role that this institution has played, uninterruptedly, in the training of artillery officers of the Romanian Army. In the spirit of the motto that opens this volume - "Tradition is not the preservation of ashes, but the transmission of fire" - the history of the Application School is revealed as a living process of professional continuity. Artillery fire does not only mean the power of the weapon, but also the fire of knowledge, of intellectual discipline and of mastery of the science that governs the trajectory, calculation and responsibility of the command. This is the fire that is transmitted from generation to generation, through instruction, exercise and example.</jats:p>