Defence Training Institutes in India

National Defence Academy

Before independence, officers for the Indian Armed Forces were trained in the military academies in India. However, officers for the Royal Indian Navy and the Royal Indian Air Force were trained in England. After independence, India did not have a system to train all the officers for the Indian Armed Forces, which includes the Army, Air Force and Navy. Also, as more and more young people started joining the armed forces, there was a need for permanent training centers. Thus, the National Defence Academy became the joint military training center of the Indian Armed Forces, formed in 1954. The National Defence Academy is an institution that trains officers for the Army, Air Force and Navy. The headquarters of the NDA is Khadakwasla in Pune district of Maharashtra. The motto of the NDA is Seva Paramo Dharma.

Indian Naval Academy

The Indian Naval Academy is located 35 km from Kannur city. The foundation stone of the academy was laid by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on 17 January 1987. The academy was commissioned in 2005. After a 22-year wait since the foundation stone of the academy was laid, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh dedicated the Naval Academy to the nation on 8 January 2009. The government spent more than Rs 700 crore on the construction of this Naval Academy. Training for officers of the Navy and Coast Guard and various courses related to the Navy are conducted here. One of the main parts of the Naval Academy is the hospital called INHS Navajeevani. The base depot here is INS Zamorin. INS Zamorin is the main center that coordinates the activities of the Naval Academy. This center manages the affairs of the Naval Hospital and the three schools operating in the academy. The President's Colour Award, the highest honour an armed forces unit can receive, was awarded to the Naval Academy, Ezhimala, in November 2019.

Indian Navy Training Centers

The officers of the Indian Navy, which was known as the Royal Indian Navy before independence, were trained in England. When the National Defence Academy was formed in India in 1954, it took over the training program for naval officers. However, the National Defence Academy did not have the capacity to train all the officers required for the Indian Navy. In 1969, a temporary training center was established in Kochi exclusively for the Navy under the name 'Indian Naval Academy'. The first batch was passed from here in 1970. In 1976, the academy's operations were shifted to Mandovi, Goa. As more young people started joining the Navy, there was a need for permanent training centers. Thus, several naval training centers were established across the country.

Naval Training Centres in India

◆ INS Garuda (Kochi) - Aviation Institute

◆ INS Venduruthy (Willington Island, Kochi) - Naval Training Institute

◆ INS Kunjali (Colaba, Mumbai) - Music Training School

◆ INS Satavahana (Visakhapatnam) - Submarine Training School

◆ INS Gomantak (Vasco-da-Gama, Goa)

◆ INS Valsura (Jamnagar, Gujarat) - Electrical Training Institute. INS Valsura is an Indian Naval Station commissioned in 1942, which has been awarded the President's Colour, the highest honour an armed forces unit can receive.

◆ INS Agrani (Coimbatore) - Leadership Training Institute

◆ INS Chilka (Khurda, Odisha) - Naval Training Institute

◆ INS Dronacharya (Kochi) - Fire Training School

◆ INS Hamla (Malad West, Mumbai) - Defence School

◆ INS Mandovi (Verem, Goa) - Border and Physical Training School

◆ INS Shivaji (Lonavala, Pune, Maharashtra) - Engineering Training Institute

◆ INS Vishwakarma (Visakhapatnam) - Shipwright School

◆ Naval Medical Institute (Colaba, Mumbai) - Institute of Naval Medicine

◆ NIETT (Willington Island, Kochi) - Naval Institute of Educational and Training Institutes

◆ National Institute of Hydrology (Vasco-da-Gama, Goa)

◆ Inter-Services (Vasco-da-Gama, Goa) - National Defence Academy

◆ Inter-Services (Wellington, Tamil Nadu) - Defence Services Staff College

◆ Inter-Services (New Delhi) - National Defence College

Airforce Training Centers

The Indian Air Force was established in British India in October 1932 under the name 'Royal Indian Air Force'. Before independence, pilots of the Royal Indian Air Force were trained in London. After independence, when the Indian Air Force was formed, more and more young people started joining the Air Force, and there was a need for permanent training centers. Thus, many Air Force Training Centers were established across the country. Many Air Force Training Centers were established in India to train pilots and higher-ranking Air Force officers at the officer level in the Air Force. The Air Force training institutions across India are as follows.

◆ Air Force Administrative College - Coimbatore

◆ Air Force Academy - Dundigal (Hyderabad)

◆ Air Force Technical College - Bengaluru

◆ Army Air Defence College - Gopalpur

◆ College of Air Warfare - Secunderabad

◆ Navigation Training School - Hyderabad

◆ Paratroopers Training School - Agra

◆ Institute of Aerospace Medicine - Bengaluru

◆ Flying Instructors School - Tambaram (Chennai)

◆ Air Force School - Bidar (Karnataka)

Military Training Centers

In the pre-independence era, officers for the Indian Army were trained in the military academies existing in India. One of the earliest military academies of India, the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) is located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. RIMC came into existence on 13 March 1922. The largest and oldest training centre of the Indian Army is the Infantry School at Mhow in Madhya Pradesh. After independence, as more young men started joining the army, there was a need for permanent training centres. Thus, several training centres came into existence. Military schools were started in 1961. The concept of military schools was introduced by V.K. Krishna Menon. The Indian Armed Forces has established several academies and staff colleges across India to train professional soldiers in military science, war command, war tactics and related technologies. The important army training centres among them are given below.

◆ Indian Military Academy - Dehradun

◆ Rashtriya Indian Military College - Dehradun

◆ Army Cadet College - Dehradun

◆ National Defence College - New Delhi

◆ Armed Forces Medical College - Pune

◆ College of Military Engineering - Pune

◆ Officers Training School - Chennai

◆ National Defence University - Binola (Gurgaon, Haryana)

◆ College of Defence Management - Secunderabad

◆ Defence Services Staff College - Wellington (Ooty, Tamil Nadu)

◆ National Defence Academy - Khadakwasla (Maharashtra)

◆ College of Combat (Army War College) - Mhow (Madhya Pradesh)

◆ High Altitude Warfare School - Gulmarg (Kashmir)

◆ Counter - Insurgency Jungle Warfare School - Vairengte (Mizoram)