For an officer J.S. Dillion, who has served the Indian Army for over 30 years after passing out of the Officers Training Academy, it was a walk down memory lane here. “Passing out is very different now. At that time [when I passed out] we had piping [the ceremony where an officer-cadet gets his stars after passing out] in the night,” he recalls.
Lt.Gen. Dillion, now the Director General (Quality Assurance) passed out of the Academy in 1970 when facilities were rudimentary and the Army officer training facility was called the Officers Training School. “I passed out of the school in March 1970. I was in the non-technical stream,” he says. The OTA has a technical stream for engineer cadets. It later added the women’s special entry scheme.
Lt.Gen. Dillion is only the second Army officer who graduated from the Academy to wear the Ashok Chakra and crossed swords on his shoulders, the insignia of a Lieutenant General. The first was Lt.Gen. Chopra.
The OTA was set up to train officers as part of the short service commission. It is mandatory that they serve for five years. Many leave after this stint, but some opt to continue for another five. If they chose to further extend, depending on vacancies, the officers are absorbed as permanent service officers. They will be junior to their course mates at the Indian Military Academy. Hence, very few make it to higher ranks such as Major General and Lieutenant General.
On Saturday, Gen. Dillion patiently explained to his wife the changes in the Academy as he walked down the path leading to the Parameshwaran parade ground. Maj. Parameshwaran, who died as an Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) company commander and after whom the parade ground has been named, was much junior to him. He remains the only recipient from the Academy of the highest Gallantry award in the Indian Armed Forces, the Param Vir Chakra (awarded to him posthumously).
“We were all in Sri Lanka as part of the IPKF,” Gen. Dillion recalls. “I have been all over — the Bangladesh war soon after training, Sri Lanka etc. Our batch got the maximum number of awards because soon after the young officers course, we all saw action. We got a number of Maha Vir Chakras, Vir Chakras,” he recalls.
At the Academy, it was also a time to catch up with a few former course mates for Gen. Dillion. Chennai-based V.S. Chitrapu, who served the 11th Gorkha Rifles, was one of them.
“This place holds a special attraction for me,” he said, as he looked around into the distance from near the area where new officers got their first stars. Gen. Dillion hangs up his uniform next month.
