Nearly 200 cadets, including 31 women, pass out of Officers Training Academy
CHENNAI: A total of 167 gentleman cadets of the SSC-111 and 31 women cadets of the SSC (W)-25 courses were inducted into the Indian Army on Saturday at an impressive passing out parade (POP) held at the Officer’s Training Academy (OTA) here.
During the POP, five gentleman cadets and seven women cadets from the mountain kingdom of Bhutan also graduated after completing the training. Due to the present COVID-19 pandemic, parents of the graduating officer cadets were not able to attend the event.
However, OTA had made arrangements for live streaming of the POP and pipping ceremony on Doordarshan and YouTube Channels.The parade was reviewed by Lt Gen YK Joshi, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Northern Command, who also presented the Sword of Honour and OTA gold medal to Abdesh Katoch, silver medal to Adarsh Pratap Singh and the bronze medal to Mani Mehtab Dhaliwal, a women cadet. The reviewing officer complimented the officer cadets and the staff of the OTA on the excellent allround standards displayed by all.
He exhorted the passing out cadets to always adhere to the core values of ‘selfless service to the nation’ and strive for excellence in all their endeavours.
The immaculate drill of officer cadets marching to enthralling martial tunes left the audience spellbound.
It was a proud moment for the officer cadets, as also the instructors and administrative staff of OTA who over the last 11 months have seen the transformation of these proud men and women into future leaders of the Indian Army.