Originally called 'Combat High' when it premiered on the NBC network in 1986. Due to Neal Israel's connection with Scuola di polizia (1984), this tele-movie was renamed 'Combat Academy' when the film went into syndication.
Reputedly, the debut feature film of actor George Clooney, though some cast lists have him included in 'And They're Off' (1982).
On an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel's talk show, George Clooney correctly guessed the film, when Kimmel was describing the plot to him (as part of a game).
One of two high-school comedies that actor Keith Gordon starred in that were first released in the year of 1986. The movies are 'Back to School' (1986) and 'Combat High' (1986) (TV) (aka 'Combat Academy). The same year saw Gordon also appear in the short feature made-for-video college comedy 'Charlie Barnett's Terms of Enrollment' (1986) (V).
A number of the 'special appearance' cast were known from popular American television series. These were 'M*A*S*H' (Jamie Farr), ''The Jeffersons'' (Sherman Hemsley), 'Cheers' (John Ratzenberger), ''Night Court'' (Richard Moll) and ''The Love Boat'' (Bernie Kopell).