T R E N D S

IMA trains growing number of young foreign army officers

Factfile
! The Academy became functional
from October 1, 1932, with a course
strength of 40 Gentlemen Cadets.

! Located between the Shivalik and

Himalayan foothills in the scenic and
charming Doon Valley, the
Academy’s campus covers an area
of about 1,500 acres mid-way
between the Ganga and the
Yamuna rivers.

! Brigadier L.P. Collins, DSO, OBE,

was the first Commandant. The first
PHOTO LEFT: Cadets at the passing out ceremony of the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in batch had on its rolls Sam
Dehradun. PHOTO RIGHT: The War Memorial at the IMA. PHOTO BELOW: IMA’s prestigious Manekshaw, Smith Dun and
Sword of Honour, which is presented to the best Gentleman Cadet in a batch. Muhammad Musa. All of them later
became the chiefs of the armies of
their respective countries, namely

I
t prepares the officer cadre for the Indian win IMA’s prestigious Sword of Honour, which is
Army, the fourth-largest in the world, but presented to the best cadet in a batch. India, Burma (now Myanmar) and
the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in the Interestingly, it was Smith Dun (a Briton) of Pakistan.
hills of Dehradun in northern India has the first IMA batch of 1932 who was the first for-
also been the training ground for a grow- eign cadet to win the Sword of Honour and went ! In 1934, Lord Willingdon, the
Viceroy of India, presented the
ing number of young officers from foreign coun- on to become chief of the Burmese army. Colours to the Academy on behalf of
tries. One of the oldest and most prestigious Of the 533 cadets who passed out of the acad- the King-Emperor, as not merely a
military training establish- emy in December mark of royal favour but also as
ment in the country, set up Since 1948, 2005, 16 were for- acknowledgement of sacrifice and
during British rule, the IMA a number of cadets eigners. Among common endeavour. The parade
has as its alumni several oth- from African and them, 13 were from was commanded by Under-Officer
ers who have reached impor- Bhutan and one each GC Smith Dun.
tant positions in the armies Asian countries, from the Maldives,
of countries like Nepal, including Nepal and Lesotho. ! In 1949, the Academy was redes-
Bhutan, Nigeria and the Afghanistan, have While the 16 for- ignated as the Armed Forces
Philippines. eign officers left to Academy which later became the
received National Defense Academy (NDA) in
The eclectic nature of the report on duty in their
IMA was established in its “pre-commission respective armies, the
1950.
foundation year in 1932 itself training” at the Indian officers are to ! The Academy’s flag is steel-grey
when three officers from its Indian Military be posted to various and blood red. The grey denotes
first batch — Muhammad Academy. regiments of the strength and resilience while the red
Musa, Sam Manekshaw and Indian Army. signifies sacrifice and devotion.
Smith Dun — went on to head the armies of Shajendra Lal Shreshtha, a Royal Nepalese
Pakistan, India and Burma (as Myanmar was then Army officer who trained at the IMA, said, “The ! The Crest of the IMA is composed
called), respectively. Set in the picturesque Doon people here were excellent and I wish to carry of crossed swords with a flaming
valley in India’s northern state of Uttaranchal, the message of friendliness and peace to Nepal torch symbolising knowledge,
the IMA continues the tradition as it provides from here.” superimposed in the middle by the
training in new-age combat to officers from Since 1948, a limited number of cadets from Dharma chakra of Emperor Ashok.
friendly foreign armies. African and Asian countries with close ties with Under the Crest the scroll bears the
motto ‘Veerta aur Vivek’ meaning
“The number of foreign cadets in our acade- India received “pre-commission training” at the
‘valor and wisdom’.
my has been gradually increasing. A large num- IMA. Till 1987, 568 cadets from 18 countries
ber of foreign cadets have completed full-term had trained here. These countries include ! Between 1934 and 1941, 16 regu-
courses here while others have taken short-term Angola, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, Ghana, lar courses passed out of the
training,” said Lt. Gen. Kamal Krishna Khanna, Iraq, Jamaica, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Nepal, Academy and 524 Gentlemen
commandant of the IMA. Nigeria, the Philippines, Singapore, Tanzania, Cadets (GCs) were commissioned.
In the passing out ceremony of the institution Uganda, Yemen and Zambia. The scale of the Academy’s opera-
on December 10, 2005, an officer from the Royal In recent years, cadets from France, Sudan, tions can be gauged from the fact
Bhutan Army, Penjor Gyeltshen, became the first the Maldives, Botswana and Lesotho have also that over 50,000 cadets have
foreigner since India’s independence in 1947 to trained at the academy. ■ received commissions till now.

I N D I A R E V I E W J UNE 2006 5