Spreading awareness of the Indian Army and motivating youth to join military service, a group of Gentlemen and Lady Cadets of the Officers Training Academy (OTA), Chennai, have set out on a motorcycle expedition as part of the golden jubilee of the Academy.
The expedition team headed by Captain Mandar Pathak and Captain Vinodita Rathore which left from the OTA in Chennai on March 19, will cover a distance of 2,200 km in 11 days touching various cities and towns in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.
Comprising two officers, eight Gentlemen and two Lady Cadets, the expedition will culminate at the OTA, Chennai on March 31. The team members were given a warm reception in the city on Tuesday upon their arrival from Puducherry.
In a brief interaction with reporters, Captain Mandar Pathak said the motorcycle expedition was one among the events organised as part of the golden jubilee of the OTA. A mountaineering expedition was proposed to be carried out in the coming months, he added.
The expedition team will leave for Rameswaram from Tiruchi on Wednesday morning and cover places, including Kanyakumari, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Mysore and Bangalore, before returning to Chennai.
The team members would also spread awareness of environmental conservation through afforestation and rain water harvesting. The TVS Motor Company was a partner in this expedition, he added. The OTA will complete its 50 years of raising on January 15, 2013.
A premier pre-commission training institution of the Indian Army, the OTA trains approximately 600 Gentlemen and 150 Lady Cadets every year for commission into the Army.
During the last five decades of its glorious service to the nation, over 30,000 officers including 5,000 Emergency Commission and 2,000 Women officers have passed out from this elite academy.
