Army officers should be leaders: Pratibha

CALL OF THE NATION: President Pratibha Patil presents the Sword of Honour to Academy Cadet Adjutant Rohit Shekhar at Dehra Dun on Saturday. Photo: Virender Singh Negi

President Pratibha Patil on Saturday urged the young Army officers to keep themselves abreast of new and emerging technologies and play the role of leaders as taught to them at the prestigious Indian Military Academy (IMA) here.

Addressing the new crop of officers after reviewing the passing out parade of the regular and allied courses, the President urged the officers to always remain open to new ideas. “You should maintain calm while handling the toughest of situations and instil a sense of unity and camaraderie amongst the men you command,” she said.

“Provide succour”

Ms. Patil reminded the officers that although their main role was of a warrior and a protector, they should also provide succour during calamity and distress.

Praising the perfect turnout and march-past, the President said the officers were the few chosen ones who were lucky to get this opportunity to serve the motherland. “You have been provided the best of training and the nation is proud of the large number of excellent officers produced by the IMA,” she said.

The President felt that it was a matter of great pride that the officers had attained the confidence of the international community that they were being deployed as a peace-keeping force under the aegis of the United Nations.

Great moments

There were great moments for Academy Cadet Adjutant Rohit Shekhar as the President presented him the ‘Sword of Honour' for the best all-round performance. The gold medal was awarded to Gentleman Cadet B. Ramkumar. The silver medal was bagged by Gentleman Cadet Raghav Swarup Gupta. The bronze medal of the regular course went to Gentleman Cadet Prashant Pandharinath Shinde and the silver medal of the technical graduate course went to Gentleman Cadet Varun Sood. The silver medal of TES-17 course was bagged by Gentleman Cadet Jee Thomas.

As many as 546 officers, including two from Nepal, were commissioned in the Army. Seventeen Gentleman Cadets from abroad also passed out.

These include two each from Bhutan, Maldives, Mauritius, Mongolia and nine from Tajikistan.

Chief of Army Staff Gen. Vijay Kumar Singh, Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva and Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and were present on the occasion.