There are many ways to join the Indian Defence forces starting from 10+12, graduation, post-graduation, etc. A person could become an army officer at any point in life getting into one of the various entries to be part of the army.
Given are the five entries out of the many that suggest how one can be into these armed forces:
- National Defence Academy- To join the National Defence Academy, a candidate has to appear for the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) exam. It’s a joint service academy of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services i.e. Army, Navy and Air Forces are trained together before they go onto their respective service academies for further pre-commissioning training. The candidate must be an unmarried male and is expected to pass written followed by SSB and medicals along with further training to get in the merit list.
- 10+2 Tech- Indian Army 10+2 Technical Entry Scheme(TES) provides an opportunity for the candidates aspiring to become an officer in the Engineering Core of Army. It is open for all the candidates who have qualified 12th standard in science stream. The candidate is expected to be physically fit and only unmarried male candidates can apply.
- Indian Military Academy- It is the officer’s training academy of the Indian Army. A trainee is often known as the gentleman cadet. The academy wants its graduates to have high morals and ethical values. A graduate from non-military college has to undergo a one and a half year training. Age limits, physical fitness, and medicals are some of the basic requirements for the candidates to get selected.
- Short Service Commission- Short Service Commission is a 10+4 tenure of officers. The officers can enroll for the tenure of 10 years and then they can continue for a period of 4 years. After completing this, the women officers opt-out and men officers can either opt-out or continue and take up the permanent commission. The training academy for this is OTA (Officers Training Academy) and there are various options to join OTA such as UPSC exams, SSB medicals, and interviews without any written test.
- NCC- National Cadet Corps (NCC) is a youth wing of armed forces in India. To join NCC, a candidate should have passed graduation degree with recognised University and should have age between 19-25 years. It’s the second line of defense and is a highly reputed body. Along with the military training, the candidates also learn other moral values like selflessness, honesty, discipline, hard work and leadership qualities.
To get into these armed forces, one must possess a level of academic education along with physical fitness. However, the key to making it work is to clear the competitive exams, some of which are specific for each entry. The CDS (Combined Defence Service) exam is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment into the Indian Military Academy, officers Training Academy, Indian Naval Academy, and Indian Air Force Academy. There are several institutes offering Best CDS Coaching in Mumbai and helping young aspirants realise their dreams.