Shimla, 03 Jul (JKNS): Army Training Command (ARTRAC) Investiture Ceremony 2025 was held at Danfe Auditorium Shimla on 03 Jul 2025. General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Army Training Command, Lt Gen Devendra Sharma, PVSM, AVSM, SM presided over the function. During the solemn event, establishments and individuals were awarded for their outstanding performances for the Training Year 2023-24.
Three Category ‘A’ Establishments and two Affiliated Units to Category ‘A’ Establishments were awarded prestigious ‘GOC-in-C Army Training Command Unit Citation’ for their outstanding performance. The proud recipients were Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE), Mhow, Combat Army Aviation Training School (CAATS), Nasik, Army Airborne Training School (AATS), Agra, MAHAR (BORDERS) & 118 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) GRENADIERS.
The recipient Establishments and units have made exceptional contribution in enhancing training ethos and standards of the Indian Army, which lays the foundation of a strong and resilient force for the 21st Century. Lt Gen Vivek Dogra, SM, Comdt MCTE, Mhow, Maj Gen Abhinaya Rai, AVSM, YSM, Comdt, CAATS, Nasik, Col Bheemaiah PS, SM, Comdt, AATS, Agra, Col Utpal Das, CO, 4 MAHAR, Col Rahulraj B Alavekar, CO, 118 Inf Bn (TA) GRENADIERS alongwith Subedar Major Halim Ali Khan, Subedar Major Dandu Mabu, Subedar Major Dhan Singh, Subedar Major Jogendra Singh and Subedar Major Niraj Kumar received the Citation from the Army Commander.
Financial Excellence Awards were conferred upon three training establishments viz Military College of Material Management (MCMM), Jabalpur, Counter Insurgency Jungle Warfare School (CIJWS), Variengate and Military College of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering (MCEME), Secunderabad for setting high standards in Financial Management.
Additionally, two training establishments to include Armoured Corps Centre & School (ACC&S), Ahilyanagar and Military College of Material Management MCMM, Jabalpur were awarded with e-Office Excellence Awards for promoting e-office software usage which reduces usage of paper. Lt Gen Sanjay Sethi, AVSM, VSM, Comdt, MCMM, Jabalpur, Lt Gen Neeraj Varshney, VSM, Comdt, MCEME, Secunderabad, Maj Gen Vikram Varma, SM, VSM, Comdt, ACC&S, Ahilyanagar and Maj Gen Vinod Nambiar, YSM, SM, VSM, Comdt CIJWS, Veirangate alongwith Subedar Major (Hony Capt) MN Tripathi, Subedar Major (Honorary Lieutenant) Girish Kumar Pappinisseri, Risaldar Major Gurdev Singh and Subedar Major Honlong Pansa received the awards from the Army Cdr.
4. In the individual category, Lt Col Anuj Chandra Shrivastava, HQ ARTRAC, Lt Col Abhimanyu Singh, MCTE, Mhow, Lt Col J K Verma, College of Military Engineering (CME), Pune, Lt Col Abhilash Anand, MCTE, Mhow Lt Col Amol Jaynad Todkar, MCTE, Mhow, Capt R Sushil Kumar Iyer, MCEME, Secunderabad, Subedar Manoj, MCTE, Mhow, Naib Subedar Thakur Singh, EME School Vadodra & Naib Subedar Jagdish, MCTE, Mhow were felicitated with Award of Technical Excellence for their innovations.
The Army Commander also awarded GOC-in-C Spot Commendation Cards to five individuals for their distinguished service & performance. The recipients included Col K Sundaresh of HQ ARTRAC, Constable Sunita Devi and Constable Riya of HP Police, Shri Kailash Chand of CPWD and Shri Ramesh Chand of Amateur Dramatics Club.
Lt Gen Devendra Sharma while addressing the gathering highlighted recent ARTRAC initiatives and the lines of effort towards Indian Army’s roadmap for Decade of Transformation and Year of Technology Absorption. As part of Decade of Transformation, ARTRAC has undertaken 57 initiatives under the pillars of Jointness & Integration, Force Re-structuring, Technology Absorption & Modernisation, Systems, Processes & Functions and Human Resources Management. The Army Commander highlighted that recent conflicts have clearly indicated that technology is going to play a decisive role in outcome of all future conflicts. Therefore, the vision of ARTRAC is to adopt, develop and imbibe Niche Technology in training curriculum to facilitate learning and exploit technology for exponential results during operations.
This would require ‘Whole of Nation’ Approach, wherein, niche technology available with industry and premium academic institutions of the country will be absorbed by Indian Army through Memorandum of Understanding. 15 major Training Establishments are evolving as Centres of Expertise for adopting 33 Niche Technologies.
A comprehensive plan has been evolved to adopt all these technologies by 2030. An amount of ₹ 390 Crs is planned to be invested in R&D, infrastructure development and training over the next five years.
Impetus on technology absorption has resulted in ARTRAC training approximately 18,000 personnel on 22 Niche Technologies in the training year 2024-25 with a plan of training another 12,000 personnel on 21 Niche Technologies in the training year 2025-26.
All these initiatives will play a crucial role in the transformation of Indian Army into a ‘Future Ready Force’. Lt Gen Sharma made a special reference to the role of women in Armed Forces of the country, wherein more than 1800 women are proudly serving across rank and file of Indian Army including undertaking challenging roles like Command of a unit.
He highlighted the steps that have been taken by Training Establishments under ARTRAC to ensure Gender Neutrality and providing equal opportunities to women in Indian Army, akin to their male counterparts.
While congratulating the awardees for their outstanding performances and achievements, the Army Commander mentioned that their achievements will be a source of inspiration for others to emulate.
