In a step closer towards formation of Integrated Theatre Command (ITC) for the first time, more than 100 junior level officers from the Indian Army, navy and Air Force are going to be part of inter-service posting
These junior level officers are going to be posted in all arms of the three services – and this will include aviation, artillery and logistics.
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According to sources in the defence and security establishment the first batch of around 40 officers of Indian Army, 30 officers from Navy and 30 from Air Force will be cross posted.
Previously only one or two officers at the Colonel level used to be posted at the formation headquarters.
In the cross posting the army officers will be of Majors and Lieutenant (Lt) Colonels, Navy officers will be at the ranks of Lieutenant Commanders and Commanders and Air Force will send Squadron Leaders and the Wing Commanders.
Does this cross posting mean ITC is in place?
No. Not yet. The Army, Navy and Air Force have started the process of cross posting towards the formation of joint fighting forces. The structured ITC has yet to be formed.
The cross posting of the junior level officers will be in different areas which have common service environments like missiles, air defence, logistics, aviation, engineering and more.
Why junior level officers?
Sources in the defence and security establishment said that this decision has been taken keeping jointness among the three services and later the creation of ITC in mind.
During the cross postings these junior level officers not only at headquarters or formations but also at unit level. And they will get a better understanding of the environment of different services as well as different practices and processes.
According to a source in the Indian Navy, there will be no posting on the warships. However, the cross posting in the navy will be done in the areas where the nature of the job is similar and common in execution.
Financial Express Online has reported earlier that the government has already initiated steps to restructure the services with the aim to have the military assets of the armed forces under one commander. This one commander will be responsible for all operations under his theatre.
How many commands will be there?
As has been reported earlier there will be five theatre commands including: Maritime Theatre Command; Air Defence Theatre Command, Eastern Command; Western Command and Northern Command (Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh).
At present India has two operational tri-services commands — Andaman and Nicobar Command and the Strategic Forces Command.
The three services have a total of 17 commands, seven each with the Army and Air Force and the Navy has three.
In recent developments, the Defense Space Agency and Defense Cyber Agency were established as tri-service organizations, with officers from all three forces being posted there. Work on the Armed Forces Special Operations Division is also in advanced stages.
Officers to be posted to missile units
Towards integrating the three services, orders have been issued for posting the junior level officers to the BrahMos missile units of Air Force and Navy. The officers from the Army are at the level of Major and Captain and are from the Regiment of the Artillery which operated BrahMos supersonic missile. It is already known that the three services operate BrahMos missiles which have the capability to travel at hypersonic speed to a distance in excess of 400 km. The Indian Air Force has modified Su 30 MKI to carry BrahMos missiles and has ground based BrahMos missile units.
Later the establishment is planning to send junior officers to other common platforms like air defence system ‘Akash’ and helicopters and at some stage Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
The three services have a common platform like the Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) and IAF operates Chinook Helicopters and the Army has placed orders for the same.