In this image released by @HQ_IDS_India via X on April 10, 2025, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh during Convocation Ceremony of 80th Staff Course at Defence Services Staff College, at Wellington in Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu.
Credit: @HQ_IDS_India on X via PTI Photo
India's first batch of 'purple officers' of the armed forces completed their training at the Defence Services Staff College in Tamil Nadu's Wellington on Thursday.
Here is all you need to know about these 'purple officer':
- These officers have enhanced training in 'jointness' which means that they have integrated strength of at least two limbs of the armed forced.
- The first batch comprises 40 officers, out of which 20 are from the Army and 10 each from Navy and Air Force. Apart from this, there were four other officers from the United States of America, South Korea, Britain, and Australia. These foreigners, who came from countries where jointness was more common, shared their experiences to create a positive impact on the Indian officers, as per a Times Now report.
- As per the publication, these 40 officers who have special training visited the joint Andaman and Nicobar Command, the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) in New Delhi, the Maritime Control Centre. They also received briefs on logistics, intelligence, and cyber security related to joint work.
- Despite their training, due to the lack of an integrated system, these officers will have traditional appointments for now.
In Wellington on Thursday, Rajnath Singh said: "Emerging technologies are impacting the character of war with unmanned systems and advent of AI forecasting, an era of Autonomous Warfare. Warfare today has gone beyond the traditional battlefields of land, sea, and air. Armed forces will increasingly need to operate jointly in a multi-domain environment where cyber, space, and information warfare will be as potent as conventional operations."
In order to remain capable and relevant for future wars, "We need to vigorously pursue the transformation of our Armed Forces. New perspectives, doctrines, concepts of operation and structures need to be created and refined in keeping with the changing nature of threats and war fighting methodologies," the minister said.
Meanwhile, in pursuit of our need to modernise and remain relevant for the future, the Ministry of Defence has decided to observe Year 2025 as the "Year of Reforms".
(With PTI inputs)