Indian Army | Indian armed forces

Indian army

Indian Army:-

The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four-star general. Two officers have been conferred with the rank of field marshal, a five-star rank, which is a ceremonial position of great honour. The Indian Army originated from the armies of the East India Company, which eventually became the British Indian Army, and the armies of the princely states, which were merged into the national army after independence. The units and regiments of the Indian Army have diverse histories and have participated in a number of battles and campaigns around the world, earning many battle and theatre honours before and after Independence.

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The primary mission of the Indian Army is to ensure national security and national unity, to defend the nation from external aggression and internal threats, and to maintain peace and security within its borders. It conducts humanitarian rescue operations during natural calamities and other disturbances, such as Operation Surya Hope, and can also be requisitioned by the government to cope with internal threats. It is a major component of national power, alongside the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force. The army has been involved in four wars with neighbouring Pakistan and one with China. Other major operations undertaken by the army include Operation Vijay, Operation Meghdoot, and Operation Cactus. The army has conducted large peace time exercises such as Operation Brasstacks and Exercise Shoorveer, and it has also been an active participant in numerous United Nations peacekeeping missions, including those in Cyprus, Lebanon, Congo, Angola, Cambodia, Vietnam, Namibia, El Salvador, Liberia, Mozambique, South Sudan, and Somalia.

The Indian Army is operationally and geographically divided into seven commands, with the basic field formation being a division. Below the division level are permanent regiments that are responsible for their own recruiting and training. The army is an all-volunteer force and comprises more than 80% of the country's active defence personnel. It is the largest standing army in the world, with 1,237,117 active troops and 960,000 reserve troops. The army has embarked on an infantry modernisation program known as Futuristic Infantry Soldier As a System (F-INSAS), and is also upgrading and acquiring new assets for its armoured, artillery, and aviation branches.

The Indian Army has proved that the regimental colours its Jawans carry are still a matter of honour. The many wars it faced, have ensured that those traditions would be carried on by many generations of fighting Jawans in the years to come. Most of all, the Jawans have learnt that after all was said and done, honour in battle meant standing one's ground and fighting - even to the last man or tank if necessary. Jai Hind!! Jai Jawan!!

Mission and doctrine:-

 Initially, the army's main objective was to defend the nation's frontiers. However, over the years, the army has also taken up the responsibility of providing internal security, especially against insurgencies in Kashmir and Northeast India. Currently, the army is also looking at enhancing its special forces capabilities. With India's increasing international role, and the requirement to protect its interests in far-off countries becomes important, the Indian Army and Indian Navy are jointly planning to set up a marine brigade.

The current combat doctrine of the Indian Army is based on effectively utilising holding formations and strike formations. In the case of an attack, the holding formations would contain the enemy and strike formations would counter-attack to neutralise enemy forces. In the case of an Indian attack, the holding formations would pin enemy forces down, whilst the strike formations would attack at a point of India's choosing. The Indian Army is large enough to devote several corps to the strike role.

Command structure:-

The army operates six operational commands and one training command. Each command is headed by General Officer Commanding-in-Chief with the rank of Lieutenant General. Each command directly reports to Army HQ in New Delhi. These commands are given below in order of creation, with location (city) and commanders listed. There is also the Army Training Command abbreviated ARTRAC. Besides these, army officers may head tri-service commands such as the Strategic Forces Command and Andaman and Nicobar Command, as well as institutions such as the Integrated Defence Staff.

Name	Headquarters	Subordinate Unit(s)
Headquarters, Indian Army	New Delhi	50th Independent Parachute Brigade – Agra
Central Command	Lucknow	6th Mountain Division – Bareilly
Eastern Command	Kolkata	III Corps– Dimapur IV Corps – Tezpur XXXIII Corps – Siliguri XVII Corps – Panagarh
Northern Command	Udhampur	XIV Corps– Leh XV Corps – Srinagar XVI Corps – Nagrota
Southern Command	Pune	41st Artillery Division – Pune XII Corps – Jodhpur XXI Corps – Bhopal
South Western Command	Jaipur	42nd Artillery Division – Jaipur I Corps – Mathura X Corps – Bathinda
Western Command	Chandimandir	40th Artillery Division – Ambala II Corps – Ambala IX Corps – Yoll XI Corps – Jalandhar
Army Training Command	Shimla	Army Training Establishments

Infantry regiments in the Indian Army :-

Infantry regiments in the Indian Army
Regiment	Regimental Center	Raised
Parachute Regiment	Bangalore, Karnataka	1945
Punjab Regiment	Ramgarh Cantonment, Jharkhand	1761
Madras Regiment	Wellington Cantonment, Tamil Nadu	1758
The Grenadiers	Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh	1778
Maratha Light Infantry	Belgaum, Karnataka	1768
Rajputana Rifles	Delhi Cantonment, New Delhi	1775
Rajput Regiment	Fatehgarh, Uttar Pradesh	1778
Jat Regiment	Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh	1795
Sikh Regiment	Ramgarh Cantonment, Jharkhand	1846
Sikh Light Infantry	Fatehgarh, Uttar Pradesh	1857
Dogra Regiment	Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh	1877
Garhwal Rifles	Lansdowne, Uttarakhand	1887
Kumaon Regiment	Ranikhet, Uttarakhand	1813
Assam Regiment	Shillong, Meghalaya	1941
Bihar Regiment	Danapur Cantonment, Bihar	1941
Mahar Regiment	Sagar, Madhya Pradesh	1941
Jammu   & Kashmir Rifles	Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh	1821
Jammu and Kashmir   Light Infantry	Avantipur, Jammu   and Kashmir	1947
Naga Regiment	Ranikhet, Uttarakhand	1970
1 Gorkha Rifles	Sabathu, Himachal Pradesh	1815
3 Gorkha Rifles	Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh	1815
4 Gorkha Rifles	Sabathu, Himachal Pradesh	1857
5 Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force)	Shillong, Meghalaya	1858
8 Gorkha Rifles	Shillong, Meghalaya	1824
9 Gorkha Rifles	Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh	1817
11 Gorkha Rifles	Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh	1918
Ladakh Scouts	Leh, Ladakh	1963
Rashtriya Rifles		1990
Arunachal Scouts	Shillong, Meghalaya	2010
Sikkim Scouts		2013

Services:-

Name	Centre
Army Service Corps	Bangalore
Army Medical Corps	Lucknow/Pune
Army Dental Corps	Lucknow
Army Ordnance Corps	Jabalpur and Secunderabad (HQ)
Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers	Secunderabad
Remount and Veterinary Corps	Meerut
Army Education Corps	Pachmarhi
Corps of Military Police	Bangalore
Pioneer Corps	Bangalore
Army Postal Service Corps	Kamptee near Nagpur
Territorial Army	New Delhi
Defence Security Corps	Kannur Cantonment, Kerala
Intelligence Corps	Pune
Judge Advocate General's Department	Institute of Military Law Kamptee, Nagpur
Military Nursing Service	Pune and Lucknow

Recruitment and Training:-

Pre-commission training of Gentlemen Cadets is carried out at the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun and the Officers Training Academy at Chennai. There are also specialised training institutions such as the Army War College, at Mhow, Madhya Pradesh; the High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS), at Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir; the Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School (CIJW), in Vairengte, Mizoram; and the College of Military Engineering (CME), in Pune.

The Army Training Command (ARTRAC), at Shimla, surpervises training of personnel.

In 2020 a 'Tour of Duty' scheme was proposed for voluntary recruitment into the forces for civilians, to enable them to join for a period of three years of short service.The scheme is on a trial basis and will start with a test group of 100 officers and 1000 jawans.

Field formations

Below are the basic field formations of the Indian Army:

• Command: Indian Army has six operational commands and one training command. Each one is headed by a general officer commanding-in-chief (GOC-in-C), known as the army commander, who is among the seniormost Lieutenant General officers in the army.

• Corps: A command generally consists of two or more corps. Indian Army has 14 Corps each one commanded by a general officer commanding (GOC), known as the corps commander, who holds the rank of Lieutenant General. Each corps is composed of three or four divisions. There are three types of corps in the Indian Army: Strike, Holding and Mixed. The Corps HQ is the highest field formation in the army.

• Division: Each division is headed by GOC (division commander) in the rank of major general. It usually consists of three to four Brigades.Currently, the Indian Army has 40 Divisions including four RAPIDs (Re-organised Army Plains Infantry Division), 18 Infantry Divisions, 12 Mountain Divisions, three Armoured Divisions and three Artillery Divisions.

• Brigade: A brigade generally consists of around 3,000 combat troops with supporting elements. An Infantry Brigade usually has three Infantry battalions along with various Support Elements.] It is commanded by a brigade commander who is a Brigadier, equivalent to a brigadier general in some armies. In addition to the Brigades in various Army Divisions, the Indian Army also has five Independent Armoured Brigades, 15 Independent Artillery Brigades, seven Independent Infantry Brigades, one Independent Parachute Brigade, three Independent Air Defence Brigades, two Independent Air Defence Groups and four Independent Engineer Brigades. These Independent Brigades operate directly under the Corps Commander (GOC Corps).

• Battalion: Composed of four rifle companies. Commanded by a battalion commander who is a Colonel and is the Infantry's main fighting unit. Every infantry battalion also possesses one Ghatak Platoon.Company: Composed of three platoons. Commanded by a company commander who is a major or lieutenant-colonel.

• Battery: Comprising either 3 or 4 sections, in artillery and air defence units. Every battery has two officers, the senior of which is the Battery Commander.

• Platoon: Composed of three sections. Commanded by a platoon commander who is a JCO.

• Section: Smallest military outfit, with a strength of 10 personnel. Commanded by a section commander of the rank of Havaldar.