Down Memory Lane

Brig BL Poonia (retd)

Joint Services Wing (JSW), later rechristened as the National Defence Academy (NDA) in January 1955, was born in January 1949 at the recently vacated Italian Prisoners of War (POW) Camp, Clement Town, Dehradun. Located in the salubrious climate of Doon Valley, it was close enough to the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, and so was chosen to kick-start the tri-services Academy, as its new complex at Khadakwasla was still six years away. Located next to Suswa Nadi, the POW Camp became JSW, and IMA Dehradun became its Military Wing. IMA was asked to provide administrative and operational support to the infant JSW.

It was the first military academy in the world to train cadets of the three services under one roof, though a few countries later followed. The joint training of cadets proved to be a rewarding experience that produced life-long friendships between the officers of the three defence services.

The 1st course, comprising 191 cadets between 15 to 16 years of age, joined the JSW in January 1949. It was a young lot of matriculates from all over the country who had cleared the Services Selection Board (SSB) but not the UPSC written examination, since UPSC received Constitutional status only on 26 January 1950. But strangely enough, it turned out to be a remarkable course, which produced 63 Flag Rank officers. General S.F. Rodrigues, Admiral Ramdass Katari and Air Chief Marshal N.C. Suri rose to become service chiefs.

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation stone of NDA on 6 October 1949. It took five years for the new complex to come up, after which the JSW was moved from Clement Town, Dehradun to NDA Khadakwasla, Pune, in October 1954, under the supervision of Maj. Gen. Enaith Habibullah, the then Commandant JSW.

The NDA was formally inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Bombay State Morarji Desai on 16 January 1955, and the first Passing Out Parade (POP) was reviewed by Prime Minister Nehru on 5 June 1955.

The NDA, spread out in an area of 6,700 acres with lush green and undulating terrain, is surrounded by hills from the northern and eastern sides. Towards the southwest of the academy, across Khadakwasla Lake, stands the imposing Sinhgad Fort of Chhatrapati Shivaji, the very sight of which is an inspiration for the cadets.

A memorial called the Hut of Remembrance was completed in 1957 through voluntary shramdaan’by the cadets of the 10th to 17th NDA courses. It is a memorial for those ex-NDA officers who sacrificed their lives in service of the nation. In addition, paintings of the three ex-NDA Param Vir Chakra awardees, Capt. Gurbachan Singh Salaria (3/1 GR), 2 Lt Arun Khetrapal (17 Poona Horse), and Capt. Manoj Kumar Pandey (1/11 GR) adorn the Central Hall of Sudan Block, the main administrative block of NDA.

The layout of the entire NDA complex has been aesthetically designed and the architecture of the buildings is superb. Its vast expense hits you when you reach a little ahead of the Pashan gate, the main entrance of the NDA. Apart from the imposing red stone Sudan block dome, one can also identify the silver dome of the Science block (now known as Capt. Manoj Pandey