Sports personalities M.S. Dhoni and Abhinav Bindra were commissioned as Honorary Lieutenant Colonel and Deepak Rao as Honorary Major in the Territorial Army on Tuesday.
At a brief function here, Chief of the Army Staff General V.K. Singh pipped the three, completing the formal induction into the force.
Dhoni and Bindra were bestowed the honour for their outstanding contribution to sports and their commitment to the Army on various occasions.
Deepak Rao is the first Indian to specialise in modern Close Quarter Battle Training. He has imparted his expertise for 17 years to soldiers from various forces of the country. He has also been an Instructor in Reflex Shooting and Deep Sea Diving. Despite his outstanding achievements he remains committed, selfless and has dedicated his life to the Army as an organisation.
“For his yeomen service to the nation and specifically providing assistance to training of the Armed Forces in Close Quarter Battle, Advanced Commando Combat System and Combating Terrorism, Dr. Rao has been bestowed with the honour”, a release said.
The three honorary officers have now become brand ambassadors of the Army. They join Col. (Hon) Anil Habbu, Lt. Col. (Hon) Kapil Dev and Lt. Col. (Hon) Mohanlal.
Keywords: Dhoni, Abhinav Bindra, Territorial Army
We can't just give away such high honors, be it an Olympic gold medalist or the best captain so far whatsoever. Both the fields should not be compared. They need to find some intelligent ways to attract the youth.. Just copying US will not help!
i am not impressed. Why not Dhanraj Pillay/ Gagan Ajit Singh were made same..?
The great cricketer C.K.Nayudu was Col in the holkar army before Independence.Vizzy(Maharaj kumar of Vijayanagaram always used to mention him as Col in all his memeorable cricket commentaries. I think H.R.Adikari had also served in the army.In cricket also both if them were known for their fighting innings.Scoring Sixes in the matches was C.K.Nayudu's method of fighting. Maybe Dhoni has the same spirit.
To all the critics: Read the last para. They are brand ambassadors and their popularity is exactly what the Army is trying to use to communicate to the indian youth. They hope by Honouring successfull and popular personalities they will be able to get these personalities to convey Army's message to the millions of youth who are either ignorant of the Army as a career or turning their backs away from the army. So, as much as other sports/entertainment personalities deserve such Honours, they unfortunately dont have the fame or popularity to make an impression on the larger population. This then defeats the purpose of this exercise.
Skills in cricket do not make him omnipotent and it indeed is stupidity for armed forces to act on basis of what is popular than what is rational.
Can anyone tell me why Dhoni, Kapil Dev and Bindra etc are honored with Lieutenant Colonel just bec they had participated in army occasions. I don't think they should be honored like this as they had not not made any contribution to army just attending the functions doesn't mean that they should be honored.
Cricket is a game and is for entertainment and should be treated like one. Isnt the hockey team contributing to our nations pride (but tax exemption only for cricketers)?we indians are pathetically in love of this game we just forget the boundaries and national values
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