List of National Defence Academy alumni

The front view of the Sudan Block of the National Defence Academy.
The Sudan Block of NDA

The Indian National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint services academy of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three armed forces (the Army, the Navy and the Air Force) train together before beginning pre-commission training at their respective service academies (Indian Military Academy (IMA), Indian Naval Academy (INA), and Air Force Academy (AFA) for army, navy, and air force cadets respectively). Established in 1954 and located in vicinity of Khadakwasla Dam, near Pune, it is the world's first tri-service academy.[1][2]

NDA is not the only officer training academy in India. Besides NDA, which is tri-service academy, the Indian Army's IMA,[3] Officers Training Academy (OTA),[4][5] Army Cadet College (ACC), the Indian Navy's INA,[6] and the Air Force's AFA are the other officer training academies of India. Besides cadets from NDA, these academies accept cadets separately from several streams. Apart from these, the Indian Army has three establishments for technical stream which include College of Military Engineering (CME),[7] Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE),[8] and Military College of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering (MCEME).[9] Although cadets are imparted technical training at these three academies, they are commissioned through OTA, Gaya.[10] Excluding all these establishments, which are meant for combat arms, the Indian Army has other commissioning academies for support services such as the Medical Corps,[11] and the Judge Advocate General's Department for example.[12]

Similarly, the Aeronautical Engineers (Electronics) and Aeronautical Engineers (Mechanical) are trained at the Air Force Technical College at Jalahalli, Bengaluru; the Meteorological branch officer cadets get their training at Air Force Administrative College, Coimbatore.

NDA alumni have led and participated in every major conflict in which the Indian Armed Forces have been called into action since the academy was founded.[1] Alumni include three Param Vir Chakra recipients and twelve Ashoka Chakra recipients.[13][14] The NDA has produced 36 service chiefs of staff, including the incumbent chiefs of staff of the Army, Navy and Air Force.[15]

  1. ^ a b Bahukhandi 2004, p. 13.
  2. ^ Kaushik Deka (10 August 2017). "National Defence Academy: Steel in our spine". India Today. Archived from the original on 9 October 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  3. ^ "IMA". Indian Army. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  4. ^ "OTA Chennai". Indian Army. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  5. ^ "OTA Gaya". Indian Army. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  6. ^ "Vision of Indian Naval Academy | INA". Indian Naval Academy. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  7. ^ "College of Military Engineering". Indian Army. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  8. ^ "MCTE". Indian Army. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  9. ^ "MCEME, Secunderbad". Indian Army. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  10. ^ Abdul Qadir (12 December 2015). "193 cadets graduate as army officers from Gaya OTA". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 17 January 2017.
  11. ^ "Welcome to Armed Forces Medical College". Armed Forces Medical College. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  12. ^ "Institute of Military Law". Indian Army. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Param Vir Chakra NDA Off was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ "Ashok Chakra". National Defence Academy. Archived from the original on 13 July 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Chiefs Of Staff www.nda.nic.in was invoked but never defined (see the help page).