SKY-HIGH FEAT: Parajump and free fall demonstration by a paratrooper at the Officers Training Academy, St.Thomas Mount, Chennai on Friday. — Photo: R. Shivaji Rao

CHENNAI: A year from now, the Officers Training Academy here will substantially increase its intake by training about 750 male and female cadets.

"Our infrastructure is developing as per plans. Hopefully, in a year or so, we should be training 750 male and female cadets," Commandant K. K. Kohli said here on Friday.

Lack of infrastructure

Around 450 male cadets and 150 lady cadets are commissioned each year to the Army from the OTA.

"That's the capacity now. One of the constraints we face is lack of infrastructure," he said.

On the change in syllabus, he said based on the feedback from the cadets, the counter insurgency capsule was now more comprehensive.

The OTA also gets feedback on its cadets' performance from the Commanding Officers of the units they join. This was also taken into consideration when the syllabus was fine-tuned.

Braving the odds

The biggest achievement of the present batch is that despite the heavy rain, the course was completed in time sans disruption.

"Both female and male cadets did all their route marches — 25 km, 40 km — in the rain.

At the end of one of these sessions, they were carrying almost double the load they were supposed to carry."

Dropout rate

On the dropout rate from the Academy, he said of the 73 female cadets admitted in the last batch, one was relegated and a war widow resigned.

In the case of male cadets, a few left after getting admission to the Indian Military Academy, Air Force Academy and Naval Academy.

"The cadets have the option to go," Maj. Gen. Kohli said. There are a few who find the training too rigorous as well. In the present batch, 35 cadets have left the Academy for other institutions or resigned.

Earlier in the day, a display of show jumping, para jumping, martial arts, para sailing and motorcycle acrobatics was organised.

Officers from the 50 Independent Para Brigade jumped from an AN-32 to demonstrate free fall and static fall while the ASC team from Bangalore performed deft riding manoeuvres.

Commenting on the performance, the Commandant said apart from the para drop and the motorcycle acrobatics, cadets performed all the other events.

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