Territorial Army (India)

Territorial Army
Territorial Army India Logo
Country	India
Type	Army
Size	200,000 Troops[1]
Headquarters	TA Group Headquarters
Nickname(s)	Terriers
Motto(s)	सावधानी व शूरता - Savdhani Va Shoorta (Vigilance and Valour)
Engagements	1962 India-China War 1965 Indo-Pak war 1971 Indo-Pakistani War Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka OP RAKSHAK in Punjab & J&K OP RHINO and OP BAJRANG in the North East
Decorations	2 Ati Vishisht Seva Medals 15 Vishisht Seva Medals 5 Vir Chakras 13 Sena Medals 25 Mentioned-in-Dispatches 43 COAS commendation cards.
Website	Official Website of Territorial Army

The Indian Territorial Army (TA) is a second line of defence after the Regular Indian Army; it is not a profession, occupation or a source of employment. It is only meant for those people who are already in mainstay civilian professions; in fact, gainful employment or self-employment in a civil profession is a prerequisite for joining the Territorial Army. Volunteers of the Territorial Army usually serve in uniform for a few days every year, so that they can bear arms for national defence in times of dire need or national emergencies.

History

The Indian Defence Force, incorporating Europeans and Indians in separate sections, was formed by the British on 9 October 1917. It was established in order to release regular troops from garrison duties during the First World War. It was divided into British and Indian sections. Like the Indian Army of the time, units in the Indian section consisted primarily of British officers and Indian other ranks. Units in the British section were all British. The Indians were volunteers, but many of the Europeans were conscripted, as the Indian Defence Force Act 1917 made military service compulsory for all Europeans permanently residing in British India (including the princely states) between the ages of 16 and 50.^[2] Boys between 16 and 18 were only obliged to undertake training and men over 40 only had to serve in their local district, but men between 19 and 40 were obliged to serve anywhere required within the country. Only the clergy were exempt.^[3]

The IDF was generally unpopular among the British conscripts. It was replaced by the Auxiliary Force (for Europeans and Eurasians) and the Indian Territorial Force (for Indians) in 1920.^[4]

The modern Territorial Army was inaugurated by the first Indian Governor-General of India, C. Rajagopalachari, on 9 October 1949 after the Independence Territorial Army Act was passed in 1948. The annual Prime Minister's Territorial Army Day Parade takes place on 9 October.^[5]

The Territorial Army initially had various types of units such as armoured regiments, infantry battalions, air defence, medical regiments, engineers field park companies, signal regiments, Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (EME) workshops, coast batteries, Army Service Corps GT Coy, ASC Compo Pl, and AMC field ambulances. By 1972 these units were either disbanded or converted to Regular Army units with the exception of infantry battalions.

Territorial Army units were actively involved in military operations in 1962, 1965 and 1971. The "Terriers" have also taken part in Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka, Operation Rakshak in Punjab & J&K, Operation Rhino and Operation Bajrang in the North East. Departmental units came to the aid of the civil authorities during industrial unrest and natural calamities, most famous being earthquake in Latur (Maharashtra), Uttarkashi in Garhwal Himalaya and the super cyclone in Odisha. The Ecological units have arrested man-made environmental degradation by planting 2.5 crore trees over 20,000 hectare of land in Mussoorie hills and Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand), Bikaner and Jaisalmer (Rajasthan) and ravines of Chambal in Madhya Pradesh.

Force structure

The Territorial Army is part of the regular Indian Army. The present role of the Territorial Army is to relieve the Regular Army from static duties and assist civil administration in dealing with natural calamities and maintenance of essential services in situations where life of the communities is affected or the security of the country is threatened, and to provide units for the Regular Army as and when required.

The Territorial Army has a strength of approximately 40,000 first line troops (and 160,000 second line troops) comprising departmental Territorial Army units such as railway, IOC, ONGC, telecommunication and General Hospital, and the non-departmental Territorial Army units of infantry battalions and ecological battalions affiliated to various infantry regiments.

Group headquarters

• TA GP HQ, Southern Command – Pune, Maharashtra
• TA GP HQ, Eastern Command – Kolkata, West Bengal
• TA GP HQ, Western Command – Chandigarh, (union territory)
• TA GP HQ, Central Command – Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
• TA GP HQ, Northern Command -Udhampur, Jammu & kashmir

Departmental units

Non-departmental units

Ecological battalions

• 128 Infantry Battalion (TA) Rajputana Rifles Eco – Sri Mohangarh
• 127 Infantry Battalion (TA) Garhwal Rifles Eco - Dehradun
• 128 Infantry Battalion (TA) Rajputana Rifles Eco - Bikaner
• 129 Infantry Battalion (TA) JAK LI Eco - Samba
• 130 Infantry Battalion (TA) Kumaon Eco - Pithoragarh
• 131 Infantry Battalion (TA) Rajput Eco - Gwalior
• 132 Infantry Battalion (TA) Rajput Eco - Bhatti Mines, Delhi
• 133 Infantry Battalion (TA) Eco
• 134 Infantry Battalion (TA) Assam Eco
• 135 Infantry Battalion (TA) Assam Eco

Training

Infantry training is carried out on urban and provincial systems.

Urban systems of training

• Recruit Training: Training is carried out on weekends and holidays. Four hours of training is counted as one day. Thirty-Two^[6] days in the first year only including a camp of not less than four days if the trainee volunteers with the written consent of his employer, if any.
• Annual Training: A minimum of thirty-six days, with extensions up to a maximum of sixty days including a camp for fourteen days.
• Post Commission Training: All officers are required to undergo ten weeks of post commission training within two years of their commissioning. Ex-officers from the Regular Army or Short Service Commissioned can be exempted from this training at the sole discretion of the commanding officer.
• Voluntary training to gain additional military training, provided the trainee volunteers with the written consent of the employer if any.

Provincial systems of training

• Recruit Training: For a continuous period of thirty days in the first year only.
• Annual Training: For a continuous period of two calendar months in the first and subsequent years.
• Post commission Training: 90 days Post Commission Training is compulsory within two years of commissioning IMA, Dehradun.^[7]
• Voluntary Training to gain additional military training, provided the trainee volunteers with the written consent of his employer, if any.

Notable members

• Kapil Dev joined the Territorial Army on 24 September 2008 and was commissioned as an honorary lieutenant colonel.^[8][9]
• Deepak Rao, a military trainer, scientist, author, and physician, is considered to be an authority in the field of close quarter battle training. He was conferred the honorary rank of major in the Territorial Army^[10][11] after 17 years of imparting special close quarter battle commando training to the armed forces. He serves as the executive director of the Unarmed and Commando Combat Academy and has been appointed as resource personnel for imparting training in close quarter battle by India's Ministry of Home Affairs.^[12]
• Mohanlal joined the Territorial Army as an honorary lieutenant colonel on 9 July 2009. The army announced his appointment in December 2008. He is the first and only actor to have been conferred this title. His role in two films, Kirti Chakra and Kurukshetra, as an army member, led to his interest in the army and he voluntarily joined the Territorial Army.^[13][14]
• Deepak Rao was commissioned into the Para TA Regiment with the honorary rank of major by the President of India on 1 November 2011^[10][11] for his contribution of 17 years in the modernisation of close quarter battle for the Indian Army.^[15] Rao, along with his spouse Dr Seema Rao trained 15,000 soldiers over 17 years in close quarter battle training and hence was cited as India's foremost pioneer and specialist in close quarter warfare by the Indian Ministry of Defence.^[16][17] His method of reflex shooting has been used to modernise combat shooting in Northern Command and Eastern Command under the directive of Army commanders. He serves as the executive director of the Unarmed and Commando Combat Academy and has also been appointed as a resource person for imparting training in close quarter battle by India's Ministry of Home Affairs.^[12]
• Mahendra Singh Dhoni Para (TA) and Abhinav Bindra 124 SIKH (TA) were conferred the rank of honorary lieutenant colonel 1 November 2011 for their respective contributions in the fields of cricket and shooting.^[10][11]
• Navdeep Singh, a lawyer, is known to have received the highest number of decorations/awards in the Territorial Army.
• Anurag Thakur, MP from Hamirpur has been commissioned to the rank of lieutenant on 29 July 2016.
• Brigadier K P Singh Deo, former Cabinet Minister.
• Captain Rao Birender Singh, former Chief Minister of the State of Haryana.

See also

• National Cadet Corps

References

External links

• The official website of the Territorial Army in India
• Territorial Army (TA)
• Evolution of Territorial Army article in Sainik Samachar about Territorial Army evolution
• Territorial Army parade Video on YouTube
• Join Territorial Army (TA)
• Indian Territorial Army Recruitment 2015