The General Staff Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation () was founded in 1918 in Moscow by Leonid Govorov. It was the senior Soviet and now Russian professional school for officers. The Academy of the General Staff is located in Moscow, on 14 Kholzunova Lane, not far from the Frunze Military Academy. The "best and the brightest" officers of all the Soviet Armed Forces were selected to attend this senior and most prestigious of all the Soviet academies. Students were, and probably still are, admitted to the Academy in the ranks of lieutenant colonel, colonel, and General-Major (one star). Most were colonels or newly promoted generals. Officers enter in their late 30s, as a general rule.