Dehradun: It's not an easy job to prepare the world's best military officers but the Indian Military Academy (IMA) has taken up the responsibility to do so.
It is preparing men for the past 88 years who are filled with confidence after being trained and armed with modern weapons.
The IMA, which invokes the sense of pride, courage and gallantry among the trained officers, has its campus spread in 1400 acres of land here.
The IMA campus is not only historical but a training centre for the world-class military officers. It makes the men world-class in every sense and they are capable to take on any challenge.
It was established in 1932 with the first batch having only 40 gentlemen cadets.
Sam Manekshaw, the hero of the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war, was one of the officers of the batch. Smith Dun, who led the commander-the Burmese Army, and Muhammad Musa Khan who went on becoming the chief of Pakistan army were also from its first batch.
Till date, the IMA has given 62,000 military officers to the world, which includes 2500 foreign military officers trained in the prestigious academy.
It's believed that in this very area, Guru Dronacharya trained Kauravas and Pandavas. Now, the IMA trains military officers on the campus.
A war memorial has also been built where the names of the fallen heroes have been written. Also, there is a museum on the campus which has showcased various memories of the past 88 years. It has pictures, medals and the Pakistani flag, which was taken at the time of their army surrendering to India after the 1971 war, among other things.
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Even during the coronavirus crisis, the IMA kept on training the cadets. It holding a passing out parade six months ago is a testimony to it.
Lieutenant colonel Raman Gakker says after the coronavirus-induced lockdown was imposed, the IMA adopted a new strategy of not inviting or allowing anyone from outside. It worked with the available staff and that is how it prevented corona making its way to the academy.
Major Nitish Vij says that the IMA with 'Veerta aur Vivek' as its motto also put "fun factor" in the training which helps in keeping the men in good mental health.
The IMA, which has given 16 chiefs of army staff, is known the world over for being highly professional. Countries like China and others are not afraid India because of its modern weaponry but because of the IMA officers.
Meanwhile, all preparations are completed for Saturday's passing out parade. As many as 395 cadets, including 70 from other countries, will be passing out after successfully completing their training.
India will get 325 military officers, which includes 24 from Uttrakhand and 50 from Uttar Pradesh.
There are four main entries to get into the IMA. In case a person is in his/her final year of Graduation, he/she need to pass the Combined Defence Services Exams, clear the SSB, be medically fit and join it as a Direct Entry if you come in merit.
The other entries are 10+2 Tech Entry where you apply after your class 12 Exams. University Entry Scheme is for those of you who wish to apply for Army in Pre-Final/Final Year of Engineering.
Those who have completed BE/B Tech in notified streams can also join IMA in the Technical Graduate Course.
