Sunday, 11 December 2022 | PNS | DEHRADUN
314 young officers join ranks of the Indian Army
The prestigious Indian Military Academy (IMA) is a feeder system to supply finest young officer to the Indian army and to the armed forces of the friendly foreign countries and on Saturday it lived up to the high expectations when a contingent of 314 Indian and 30 Foreign Gentlemen Cadets (FGCs) passed out of its portals on a cold morning.
These officers were part of 151 Regular and 134 Technical Graduate courses of IMA. A marker’s call made from atop the historic Chetwode hall at 8:55 AM marked the commencement of the parade led by Pawan Kumar.
The parade marched in perfect harmony to the tunes of ‘Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja’ and ‘Sare Jahan Se Acha’. The synergy and enthusiasm of the cadets during the parade was applauded by the audience which consisted of military officers and family members of the newly commissioned officers. A ceremonial guard of honour was presented by the parade to the chief guest and reviewing officer, the General officer Commanding in Chief (GoC in C), Lieutenant General Yogendra Dimri.
After the parade, the RO presented awards to the GCs. The prestigious sword of honour and gold medal for standing first in order of merit in regular course was presented to Pawan Kumar. The silver medal for standing second in overall merit in the regular course was handed over to Jagjeet Singh while the bronze medal for GC standing third in order of merit from the regular course was presented to Siripurapu Likhit . In the Technical Graduate Course, Abhisek Sharma was presented with a silver medal for standing first in overall merit. Aswin Sigdel was bestowed with a silver medal for being the best FGC of the POC. The chief of the army staff banner was handed over to the Zojila Company for standing first among 16 companies of the academy in the autumn term- 2022.
The audience was thrilled when army helicopters flew past the drill square showering petals over the marching contingent when it entered the Chetwode building for the ceremonial Antim Pag (last step). This step marks their metamorphosis into an officer of the Indian Army from a cadet of academy.
After the PoP, the contingent headed to sprawling Somnath stadium for the pipping ceremony where the parents put epaulets of officers on the shoulders of their wards. Many parents turned emotional while putting the stars on the olive greens of their wards.
After this ceremony the young officers took an oath to serve the nation after which the stadium erupted in celebrations as young officers celebrated their new status as officers of India Army after the end of an arduous training.
