The Indian Army has approximately 11 lakhs men and women in its ranks. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the three services – Army, Navy and Air Force. The Army headquarters is in New Delhi and it is under the direction of the Chief of the Army staff. He is a four star General and is assisted by 8 Lt. Generals who are one vice chief, two deputy chiefs, a military secretary, An adjutant General, the quartermaster general, the master general of ordnance and the engineer in Chief. Two officers have been conferred the rank of field marshal – Field Marshal K M Cariappa and Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, a 5-star rank and the officer serves as the ceremonial chief. Since independence, the Indian army has been involved in 4 wars with neighboring Pakistan and one with the People’s Republic of China. Other major operations undertaken by the army include Operation Vijay – Kargil War in 1999, Operation Meghdoot – to gain control over Siachen Glacier in 1984 and Operation Cactus – to stop a Military Coup in Maldives in 1988. Apart from conflicts, the army has also been an active participant in United Nations peacekeeping missions.
Motto : Service Before Self – “Seva Parmao Dharma“

Roles of the Indian Army :

Its primary mission is to ensure the national security and safeguard sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of India from external aggression and threats.
Secondary roles include providing humanitarian support and aid to civil authority during calamities and natural disasters.

Commands of the Indian Army :

The Indian Army is divided into 6 operational commands and one training Command each headed by a Lt. General
Sl.No. Command Location
1 Northern Command Udhampur(J&K)
2 Western Command Chandigarh
3 Central Command Lucknow
4 Eastern Command Kolkata
5 Southern Command Pune
6 Western Southern Command Jaipur
7 Training Command Shimla
Chief of the Army Staff The Present chief of the Army staff is PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VSMGeneral Dalbir Singh - Present Chief of the Indian Army ADC General Dalbir Singh. He is an Alumni of the Sainik School, Chittorgarh and the prestigious National Defence Academy. He was commissioned into the 4/5 GR(FF) in June 1974.

Organisation of Command :

1. Section – 10 to 12 men
2. Platoon – 4 Sections
3. Company – 4 platoons
4. Battalions – headed by Colonel
5. Brigades – headed by Brigadier
6. Divisions – headed by Major General
7. Corps – headed by Lt. Generals[/color-box]

Organisation of the Indian Army :

The Army is organized in two parts – Arms and Services as under –
Arms – Arms Covers those troops which carry out actual operations.
Services – The remaining components of the army are the Services. Their primary duty is to provide logistics and administration for the army.

Fighting Arms :

  • Armor
  • Infantry
  • Mechanized Infantry

Supporting Arms :

  • Artillery
  • Engineers
  • Army air defence
  • Army aviation corps
  • Signals

Services :

  • Army Service corps – ration, transport and clerks
  • Army Medical Corps
  • Army ordnance corps – armament, ammunition, vehicles, clothing and all equipment
  • Corps of electronics and mechanical engineers – repairs and recovery
  • Remounted veterinary corps
  • The Intelligence corps

Weapons and Arms :

The Army has about 3500 battle tanks out of which 1200 are indigenously manufactured Vijyanta tank. Additionally army has T-55, T-72, T-90 and P-76 tanks. The Arjun Main battle tank has been developed by DRDO. Amphibious T90 tank is also known as Bhishma.
Artillery has the following equipment :
  • Agni – ICBM, Prithvi – I, Prithvi – II, Prithvi – III – short range ballistic missiles
  • Pinaka – 214 mm multiple rocket launch system
  • Bofors etc.
Aircrafts and Helicopters – Dhruv(HAL), Cheetah, Chetak , DRDO Nishant
Air Defence and Missile systems – Akash, Trishul, Astra
Engineering and Support Vehicles – Vijyanta, Sarvatra
Multiple Rocket Launcher – Pinaka, BM-21
Utility Vehicles – Shaktiman Trucks, BEML Tatra
Small Arms : INSAS, SLR
[ Note : This is not an exhaustive list of arms and weapons possessed by the Indian Army ]

Indian Army Day

Indian Army day is celebrated with pomp and show every year on the 15th of January in the National Capital, Delhi in the form of parades and other Military shows. This was the day when Lt. General KM Cariappa took over as the first Commander in Chief of the Independent India in the year 1948. The day is marked as a day to salute the Brave soldiers who laid down their lives for the protection of the Country.