STRUCTURE OF INDIAN ARMY
Formation and structure[edit]
The army has a strength of about a million troops and fields 34 Divisions within 13 Corps. Its headquarters is located in the Indian capital New Delhi and it is under the overall command of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), currently General Dalbir Singh Suhag. Initially, the army's main objective was to defend the nation's frontiers. However, over the years, the army has also taken up the responsibility of providing internal security, especially in insurgent-hit Kashmir and the Northeast. Recently it has been proposed to enhance the strength of the army by more than 90,000 to counter the increasing presence of Chinese troops along the LAC.
Below are the basic field formations of the Indian Army:
- Corps: Each Corps is commaded by a GOC(Corps Commander) in the rank of Lieutenant General.[104] It is composed of 3-4 Divisions
- Division: Each Division is headed by GOC(Division Commander) in the rank of Major General.[104] It usually consists of 3 to 4 Brigades.[104] Currently, the Indian Army has 37[105] Divisions including; 4 RAPID's (Re-organised Army Plains Infantry Division), 18 Infantry Divisions, 10 Mountain Divisions, 3 Armoured Divisions and 2 Artillery Divisions.
- Brigade: A Brigade generally consists of around 3,000 combat troops with supporting elements. An Infantry Brigade usually has 3 Infantry Battalions along with various Support Elements.[104] It is commanded by a brigade commander who is a Brigadier,[104] equivalent to a Brigadier General in some armies. In addition to the Brigades in various Army Divisions, the Indian Army also has 5 Independent Armoured Brigades, 15 Independent Artillery Brigades, 7 Independent Infantry Brigades, 1 Independent Parachute Brigade,3 Independent Air Defence Brigades, 2 Independent Air Defence Groups and 4 Independent Engineer Brigades. These Independent Brigades operate directly under the Corps Commander (GOC Corps).
- Battalion: Composed of four rifle companies.[104] Commanded by a battalion commander who is a Colonel[104] and is the Infantry's main fighting unit. Every infantry battalion also possesses one Ghatak Platoon.[106]
- Company: Composed of three platoons.[104] Commanded by a Company Commander who is a Major or Lieutenant-Colonel.[104]
- Section: Smallest military outfit with a strength of 10 personnel. Commanded by a Section Commander of the rank of Havaldar.[104]
Commands[edit]
The army operates 6 operational commands and 1 training command.[104] Each command is headed by General Officer Commanding-in-Chief with the rank of Lieutenant General. Each command is directly affiliated to the Army HQ in New Delhi. These commands are given below in their correct order of raising, location (city) and their commanders. There is also the Army Training Commanded abbreviated as ARTRAC. The staff in each Command HQ is headed by Chief of Staff (COS) who is also an officer ofLieutenant General rank.[citation needed] Besides these, army officers may head tri-service commands such as the Strategic Forces Command, Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) and the Andaman and Nicobar Command.
Corps[edit]
A corps is an army field formation responsible for a zone within a command theatre. There are three types of corps in the Indian Army: Strike, Holding and Mixed. A command generally consists of two or more corps. A corps has Army divisions under its command. The Corps HQ is the highest field formation in the army.[107]
Regimental organisation[edit]
Not to be confused with the Field Corps mentioned above, the corps mentioned below are the functional divisions entrusted with specific pan-Army tasks. The Indian Territorial Army has battalions affiliated to different infantry regiments and some department units which are either from the Corps of Engineers, Army Medical Corps or the Army Service corps. They serve as a part-time reserve.
- Arms
- Indian Infantry Regiments
- Armoured Corps Regiments – The Armoured Corps Centre and School is at Ahmednagar.
- Regiment of Artillery – The School of Artillery is at Devlali near Nasik.
- Corps of Signals – Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE), Mhow is a premiere training institute for the officers of the Corps of Signals. The corps also has two Signal Training Centres at Jabalpur and Goa.
- Corps of Engineers – The College of Military Engineering is at Dapodi, Pune. The centres are located as follows – Madras Engineer Group at Bangalore, Bengal Engineer Group at Roorkee and Bombay Engineer Group at Khadki, Pune.
- Corps of Army Air Defence — Centre at Gopalpur in Odisha.
- Mechanised Infantry – Regimental Centre at Ahmednagar.
- Army Aviation Corps(India) - Their training establishment, Combat Army Aviation Training School, is based in Nasik.
- Intelligence Corps - Centre at Pune
Services
| Name | Centre |
|---|---|
| Army Dental Corps | Lucknow |
| Army Education Corps | Pachmarhi |
| Army Medical Corps | Lucknow/Pune |
| Army Ordnance Corps | Jabalpur and Secunderabad (HQ) |
| Army Postal Service Corps | Kamptee near Nagpur |
| Army Service Corps | Bangalore |
| Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers | Secunderabad |
| Corps of Military Police | Bangalore |
| Intelligence Corps | Pune |
| Judge Advocate General's Department | Institute of Military Law Kamptee, Nagpur |
| Military Farms Service | Military Farms School and Centre, Meerut Cantonment |
| Military Nursing Service | Pune and Lucknow |
| Remount and Veterinary Corps | Meerut |
| Pioneer Corps | Bangalore |