Officers Training Academy


The Officers Training Academy are training establishments of the Indian Army that train officers for the Short Service Commission. The 49-week course at the OTA prepares graduates for all branches of the Army, except for the Army Medical Corps. Established in 1963, the first academy is located in the outskirts of Chennai. A new academy was set up at Gaya in 2011; but was given the go-ahead in December 2019 to be disbanded.

History

OTA Chennai

Seven Officers Training Schools were established in India between 1942–45 to meet the huge demand for officers to serve in the Indian and Commonwealth Armies during World War II. However, these schools were closed down at the end of the war.
In 1962, following the Sino-Indian War, India identified the need to expand the number of officers for effective operations. Two Officers Training Schools were established in Pune and Madras to train officers for Emergency Commission into the Army. The process of establishing the schools was begun in September 1962. The Chennai school was inaugurated on 15 January 1963, for nation by and with Brigadier Ram Singh as its first Commandant. The Pune school had a short run and was closed in 1964. However, the school in Chennai continued to operate and on 2 February 1965, it obtained the sanction to shift focus to train officers for the Short Service Regular Commission. OTA Chennai is spread over.
The Short Service Regular Commission has evolved into the Short Service Commission, and the OTS has continued to train officers for these commissions. The school was granted permanent status in 1985. On 1 January 1988, the school was renamed as the Officers Training Academy, on a par with the NDA and IMA.
The first batch of 25 women to be commissioned as officers into the Army were trained at the OTA, with training commencing on 21 September 1992.
Cadets are organised in six companies. Meiktila, Naushera, Kohima, Jessami, Zojila & Phillora.

OTA Gaya

OTA Gaya, set up in 2011, is located amid an estate of approximately 870 acres in a hilly terrain of Paharpur at Gaya. The academy is located en route from Gaya to Bodhgaya, approx 7 km from Gaya railway station. The international airport of Gaya is adjacent to the academy. In its vicinity is Bodhgaya, an international tourism destination. Gaya Cantonment dates back to World War II, as one of the headquarters of the British Army.
To mark the commencement of the academy, a flag hoisting ceremony was solemnised and the consecration of the raising of the academy was carried out in true secular tradition of the Indian Army, with recital of scriptures from holy books of different religions.
The academy has been equipped with state of the art training facilities, at par with other pre-commissioning training institutions.
The insignia of Officers Training Academy, Gaya has a two-colour background, with upper half as grey and the lower half blood-red, having two cross swords superimposed with the Dharmchakra. A scroll below bears the motto of the academy – 'Shaurya, Gyan, Sankalp' in devnagri.
The first batch of 149 trainee-officers underwent training in the academy during the period July 2011 to Jun 2012 and the first passing out parade was conducted on 8 June 2012. The second batch after successful completion of their training passed out on 8 December 2012. A total of 176 cadets from TES 26 and SCO 29 courses passed out on 8 December 2012. The academy currently has the capacity to train 350 cadets. Lt Gen Sunil Srivastava, VSM is the current commandant of the academy, having taken charge in 2018.
In December 2019 the Defence Ministry gave the go-ahead to shut OTA Gaya due to lack of intake.

Notable alumni

The academy has produced many war heroes and distinguished officers. Many have gone on to work for corporations after leaving the Indian Army. The OTA Alumni Association was registered under the Societies Act 1860 at Chandigarh with all India jurisdiction.

Param Vir Chakra

The Commandant of the Officers Training Academy is the overall in-charge of all the functioning of the Officers Training Academy, Chennai. The Commandant of the College is a three-star rank officer from the Indian Army. He is supported by the Deputy Commandant and Chief Instructor, held by a Major General.
S.NoRankNameAppointment DateLeft OfficeReferences
1BrigadierRam SinghJanuary 1963October 1965
2BrigadierPritpal SinghNovember 1965October 1967
3BrigadierA M M NambiarJanuary 1966December 1966
4Major GeneralI C Katoch, PVSMMarch 1970September 1972
5BrigadierR H Bagina, VrCSeptember 1972January 1974
6BrigadierC M Cariappa, AVSMJanuary 1974December 1975
7BrigadierS M Suri, AVSMJanuary 1976April 1978
8BrigadierE A Thyagarajan, AVSMApril 1978August 1982
9Major GeneralT S Verma, PVSMSeptember 1982January 1985
10Major GeneralN S Nair, VSMFebruary 1985April 1986
11Major GeneralN ViswanathanJuly 1986December 1987
12Major GeneralN K OberoiApril 1990November 1992
13Major GeneralV RajaramDecember 1992February 1995
14Major GeneralK C Dhingra, VSMMarch 1995June 1997
15Major GeneralV JayashankarJuly 1997July 1999
16Major GeneralG H Israni, VSMJuly 1999July 2000
17Major GeneralSudhir MohanAugust 2000February 2003
18Lieutenant GeneralS D AwasthiMarch 2003September 2004
19Lieutenant GeneralK K Kohli, AVSM, VSMOctober 2004July 2006
20Lieutenant GeneralR K Swamy, AVSM, VSMOctober 2006September 2008
21Lieutenant GeneralJ S Bajwa, UYSM, SMSeptember 2008July 2010
22Lieutenant GeneralGautam BanerjeeAugust 2010July 2011
23Lieutenant GeneralS S Jog, SM, VSMNovember 2011October 2014
24Lieutenant GeneralR P Sahi, AVSMJanuary 2015October 2015
25Lieutenant GeneralBobby Mathews, PVSM, AVSM & Bar, VSMOctober 2016February 2017
26Lieutenant GeneralRajan Ravindran, VSMMarch 2017February 2018
27Lieutenant GeneralSanjeev Kanal, AVSMMarch 2018To date