The National Defence University (Akademia Obrony Narodowej, or AON—literally, "National Defense Academy") is the highest military academic institution in Poland, located at Warsaw and Rembertów. It was founded in 1947 as the General Staff Academy. The National Defence University, subordinate directly to the Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, is the alma mater of Polish commanding officers and staff officers. It also conducts extensive research on military doctrine, strategy and tactics, and cooperates with the Military University of Technology in Warsaw in researching military equipment. Graduates receive the title of "licensed officer (oficer dyplomowany) . Military executions were carried out at Rembertów under the communist regime. From 1970 to 1988, three soldiers were executed by firing squad for rape-and-murder. The present National Defence University inherits the traditions of all previous Polish military academies. The first such school, the Szkoła Rycerska, was founded in 1765 by king Stanisław August Poniatowski.