Commandant’s Parade held at IMA
By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 11 Jun: The historic Chetwode Drill Square played host at the Indian Military Academy, here, to the Commandant’s Parade for the Spring Term 2020, today.
The Commandant’s Parade marked the culmination of training of 333 Indian and 90 Gentlemen Cadets from nine friendly foreign countries. Owing to the COVID-19 precautionary guidelines, only the IMA staff and other the trainees witnessed the impressive Parade.
Lt Gen JS Negi, Commandant, Indian Military Academy, who reviewed the Parade, complimented all the Gentlemen Cadets for an immaculate turnout and excellent drill movements, which indicated a high level of motivation, pride and cohesion achieved by them during their training at IMA. He also congratulated everyone for facing all challenges towards completing the training successfully.
The Commandant in his address to the Gentlemen Cadets highlighted that the Army’s reputation rested firmly on their shoulders. He said that they had earned this honour with hard work and needed to retain it by living up to the Army’s core values of Character, Competence, Commitment and Compassion. These values are reflected in the IMA’s Code of Conduct, “The safety, honour and welfare of your country come first, always and every time. The honour, welfare and comfort of the men you command come next. Your own ease, comfort and safety come last, always and every time”. The Commandant exhorted the Gentlemen Cadets to maintain these high ideals and pursue excellence at all times.
The General Officer said that “once commissioned, you shall be put in a furnace of testing your strength and purity. Remember purity of action results from purity of intention. Hence, be genuine in your concerns for your men. If you show them your competence, your men will respect you, but if you show them your concerns, they will trust you and happily take a bullet for the task you assign. The path to gaining that unflinching trust passes through Professional Competence, Concern, Character, Conviction, Courage, both, physical and mental, Loyalty, Integrity and selflessness. Understanding your men by capitalising on their strengths and weaknesses is a continuous learning process and an important Human Resource Management Skill which you need to master from your experience. This holistic development will enable you to converse, convince and command large troops in times to come. General Norman Schwarzkopf of the US Army once said, “The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.” Hence, develop the competence and the courage to do the right thing.”
General Negi also extended his compliments to the 90 Gentleman Cadets from the friendly foreign countries for having endured the rigorous regimen of training, exhibiting excellent transformation and now getting ready to don the ranks in their respective armies, as most refined Officers. He addressed them specifically while stating that “the strong bond of togetherness that you have developed in IMA shall foster a bond that will keep the diplomatic and military ties between our nations stronger and vibrant. Soon, you will become a part of your great traditional armies. I am confident that the spirit of the Indian Military Academy will guide all of you in your future courses of action. You must always endeavour to achieve greatness in whatever you do.”
In the end, he encouraged the Gentlemen Cadets to put their best foot forward for the final Passing out Parade and wished all the Gentlemen Cadets the very best in the years ahead. The Commandant also congratulated the Parents and dear ones of the Passing Out Course for the achievements of their sons and, in the backdrop of COVID precautions, advised them to watch the live coverage of all POP events on media to feel part of the celebration and the pride associated with it.
