Three service chiefs visit NDA

On a rare occasion, the three service chiefs- Admiral Karambir Singh, Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, and General Manoj Mukund Naravane — who are coursemates the National Defence Academy (NDA) visited their alma mater at Khadakwasla in Pune over Friday and Saturday.

The visit assumes significance in wake of the Supreme Court interim order allowing women to appear for the NDA entrance exam.

Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria, Admiral Singh and General Naravane are coursemates of the 56th NDA course.

Earlier, it was only in 1991 that all three service chiefs were coursemates from the first NDA, erstwhile Joint Services Wing course.

Admiral Singh, PVSM, AVSM, ADC took over as Chief of the Naval Staff on 31 May 2019.

Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria, PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC took over as Chief of the Air Staff on 30 September 2019.

General Naravane, PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC took over as Chief of the Army Staff on 31 December 2019.

Speaking on behalf of the three chiefs on this historical occasion, Admiral Singh dwelled upon the emerging trends of modern warfare. He also exhorted the cadets to imbibe the basic tenets of modern military leadership.
The chiefs reviewed the ongoing training of cadets and the available training and administrative infrastructure of NDA.

During their visit, the chiefs paid homage at the ‘Hut of Remembrance’, which commemorates the sacrifice of ex-NDA officers of Armed Forces who laid down their lives in the line of duty. The service chiefs also visited their parent squadrons ‘Hunter’ (Naval Chief) and ‘Lima’ (Army & Air Chiefs), and interacted with the cadets of the respective squadrons.

Interaction with the faculty and staff of NDA was also organised towards the end of their visit.

“Their visit to the Academy has provided unmatched inspiration and sense of pride to all the cadets and would further catalyze them to strive for excellence in their military careers and reinforce the spirit of camaraderie and Jointmanship amongst the three services,” a defence spokesperson said.

The idea of establishing this Joint Training Academy for training officers of three services was conceived by a committee headed by the then Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck in 1945 and Academy commenced functioning in its interim location at Dehradun as Joint Service Wing in January 1949. The foundation stone of the Academy at Khadakwasla was laid on October 6, 1949, and inaugurated on January 16, 1955. In its glorious history of over seven decades, the Academy has produced the first Chief of the Defence Staff, 13 Chiefs of Army Staff, 11 Chiefs of Navy Staff and 09 Chiefs of the Air Staff.