[deetee]

Why is it that upper age limit for armed forces is 23-25 years only, whereas for IPS it is 30 years. May be for front line soldiers , it is understandable that as body ages it cannot withstand such tough challenges. So, for such roles it could be restricted to 24-25 age.
But , why for even officer cadre, upper age is so restricted.
I for one, failed to clear NDA in college, but did not try again. Now even though I want to , (not NDA but even for officer) am older by 4 years .

[Dreadnought]

Officers actually "lead" the men,from the front, in our armed forces. The front line soldiers are led by equally dedicated and fine officers...the reason you see so many making the supreme sacrifice, so that the rest of us can sleep in peace.

[Dreadnought]

@Deetee,You still have a very bright chance of getting into the forces,through CDS, and also through graduate and postgraduate (University Entry) selection, where the age limit is reduced considerably, plus you get ante-date seniority. (Check up the service websites,and Employment News for the latest details etc)

[rkg]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

The only thing that caught my attention was access to the military canteen, regarding which there is no clarity on how much discount is provided. Could someone throw some light on this ?
Rohan

My wife is a civilian defense officer and hence entitled to canteen facilities. My experiences with CSD in Bangalore are:

we did not renew our canteen card for 5 years . One can guess

When i go to canteen i feel sad to see certain things. Is this the way we treat the guys who are willing to pledge their live's to safeguard us?

We find items manufactured by companies which were unknown to civilians ( for Ex. "Tosiba" brand which makes iron boxes, water heaters and what not? and VIP brand tooth brushes?) You can find these CSD. Price on par with reputed brands

One can find grocery items ( biscuits etc) which are on the verge of expiry date. I always make it point to see the date before buying in CSD.

Guys outside have a belief that everything in CSD is cheap. totally wrong.

out dated and withdrawn produts and models pushed through CSD to poor army guys

To buy an AFD item one has to spend three days. i bought washing machhine way back in 2001 wasting three days. what i get in the end is an a model not in market at a price higher than market price. that is the end of it. rest of consumer goods were bought in open market


Armed forces life is fine but "only if you are an officer", the percentage of them is less than 20 in the total armed forces

[vinaydas]

A thought for people involved in a corporate lifestyle.
Would you prefer taking orders from a person who has proved himself in battlefield with countless medals to honor his bravery or some regular IT Joe with "X" years of experience and "X" number of degrees and "X" lacs of salary?

Personally I cannot give respect to anyone who doesn't deserve it.

BTW one of the Regional heads of a famous Indian company is an EX Service man.

[VeluM]

Originally Posted by goandude

1. Transfers.
2. children education.
3. Housing. Besides quality of accommodation is archaic compared to what is available in the private sector. OTOH cost of accommodation is negligible.

However, in spite of the above, I have had a fabulous life in the Navy, perhaps having a service background and a wife also from a similar background helped.

As an Army kid, I know about the transfers, accommodation and schools. Shifting was always fun, probably because the family remained the same, while we got to meet a whole lot of new people. I can't really say how much of a pain it would have been (particularly because in civil life I dislike the actual moving-of-house bit), but then it was my parents who took care of it

I remember the best fun I had was when in Central School, Khadakvasla. I have studied in a private school in Noida and Army School in Agra apart from several others, but never really had a problem with the schools.

Would like to disagree with you on the value of accommodation. The houses themselves may not be the best designed or looking, are generally old and require a lot of MES work before one shifts in and also continuous upkeep while living in em, but they are usually spacious (even the temporary ones) and are in close proximity of parks, and are safe especially for children to go out and play.

To put a monetary figure on that, I will use the example of my sister who has recently retired from the IAF. While serving in Bangalore (Yelahanka), she had a huge 3 bedroom flat with a garden. After retirement, the flats that come anywhere close to that size and with the "luxury" of a decent sized common children's play area, or park are going at or above 20k per month - on the 4th, 8th, 10th or 11th floors (as seen so far).

[inreverse]

Great initiative Nanduji! I'm not aware if it was mentioned earlier in the thread that one (aspiring civilians) can take a look at Territorial Army as an option till they are 42 years of age. The dream that was shattered years ago can be relived by signing up for the Territorial Army

You can find details about this special wing of the Armed Forces in here:

Territorial Army

Source: Indian Army Website

Basically, you get the rank plus all of the perks except the salary of a regular Army Officer. Time for aspiring T-BHPians look at this avenue as well.

[nanduchitnis]

Originally Posted by inreverse

Great initiative Nanduji! I'm not aware if it was mentioned earlier in the thread that one (aspiring civilians) can take a look at Territorial Army as an option till they are 42 years of age. The dream that was shattered years ago can be relived by signing up for the Territorial Army

You can find details about this special wing of the Armed Forces in here:

Territorial Army

Source: Indian Army Website

Basically, you get the rank plus all of the perks except the salary of a regular Army Officer. Time for aspiring T-BHPians look at this avenue as well.

Hey In reverse, thanks for this link ! Indeed TA is a great option !

[Dry Ice]

An inspiring video I came across on FB.

Indian Army-I am a Soldier and I am marching on - YouTube

[Ace F355]

@^ The original song is called 'The Warrior Song' and was written to describe the legacy of American Army. Good song though, I used to listen to it while jogging on the track in dusky mornings.

Edit: Talking of advertisements, here is one of the latest billboard close to my home. Clicked the photograph today only. This one is for Indian Navy.

[nanduchitnis]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

An inspiring video I came across on FB.

Indian Army-I am a Soldier and I am marching on - YouTube

Very motivating vedio. Tis time to have a full fledged war. The last was 1971 and I count myself lucky to have been there in the heat of the action !

[deetee]

Originally Posted by nanduchitnis

Tis time to have a full fledged war. The last was 1971 and I count myself lucky to have been there in the heat of the action !

I understand, Sir, the statement is in good humor.
But on a serious note,the effects of war are devastating both on losers and winners side. The nation as a whole may be a winner in a war but each and every individual who loses a father or husband or brother in the war will suffer the loss for their entire lifetime. A soldier may attain martyrdom, his absence to duty will be filled by another soldier but not his loss to his family. It is good to spend on and maintain a huge army and even better if that army need not be engaged in war ever. Money, if lost on army is nothing for nation but men lost will be everything to their families.

[SJD@NewDelhi]

Originally Posted by nanduchitnis

A significant number of Team BHP members belong to the Armed Forces or may have retired.

I was wondering if a PANEL could be formed of Members who have served in the Army/Navy/Air Force who could motivate and guide Team Bhp members to consider a career in the Armed Forces for their sons/daughters.

I retired having served in the Indian Navy for 22 years in 1998 and since I am sailing in the Merchant Navy.

After retiring and having settled down in Pune, I started to interact with Civilians much more than when I was in the Navy.

I realised that most people (read parents) had a poor knowledge of a career in the Armed Forces.

Most parents were majorly following the herd attitiude to groom their kids for a future in IIT/Engineering/Medicine//Archietecture/MBA even Hotel Management and some such careers. No offence meant to IITians and Engineers. When I asked many such friends why not consider the Armed Forces, I found that none had applied their minds to that option at all.

I told my firends "Look after the VIth Pay Commission the Pay and Perks are unbeatable to that offered by the Private Sector. The promotion prospects are garunteed upto he 4th level minimum, starting salaries are around Rs 30,000, perks are a dime a dozen. Pensions after 20 years service is a cool Rs 50 k and rising. Vacations 60 days per year, free Medicals and so on and so forth. Memberships to clubs, golf, and what not. The most important thing is QUALITY OF LIFE which the Armed Forces affords which cannot be matched in the Private Sector. "

I am glad to say that over the last 10 years I have motivated around 14 kids to join the Armed Forces and all are rocking!

My own kids are in the USA earning good salaries and living a good life.But they tell me "Dad we cannot dream of a life style that we lived as kids in the Indian Navy environment and the way you and Mom lived your life."

My son was a definative NDA prospective but Medicals shattered his dreams of joining the Armed Forces. Most regretfully he works for Bill Gates instead of the Indian Air Force.

Let's set the ball rolling.

Commander, that is quite an inspiring thread that you have started in Team BHP forum; I, for one who is a bike enthusiast was very surprised indeed to get a defence related article tagged in a BHP forum; but given my keen interest for any defence related thing, I opened the thread and found it very informative, encouraging and motivating.


To introduce myself, I belong to the younger generation of BHPians hailing from New Delhi. Given @nanduchitni's keen desire to motivate youngsters in joining the armed forces, I could not resist from expressing my story on how I relate to the whole defence thing and why I found it motivating !!

The first thing that indeed motivated me in joing the armed forces was the movie 'Lakshya.' The movie was commercially what you may say is a 'flop' movie but went a long way in motivating guys like me (I relate to the easy going lazy types that Hrithik so effectively portrayed in the movie) in gathering more info on the armed forces and thus dreaming of a career in the armed forces. Given my low aptitude for science and maths, I ruled out Airforce and Navy at the first go. What helped me out was my adventurous nature and so when I was in my 11th, I joined the NCC (fyi it was JMI) under the guidance of one of our PE teachers, did quite a few camps all over India (including JMI CATC, NIC Delhi & NE and Army Camp in Meerut) and had a good opportunity of researching on weapons used by the Indian Armed forces (kudos to the Army Camp in Meerut). Indeed, my zeal and interest for that particular branch was so great that I achieved an A grade in my C certificate after 3 years in NCC.

So, next in line after 12th exams I thought of taking up NDA and discussed about it with my Batallion CO (Col. Singh) who was also effective in providing me logistical and other usefull defence related information. After letting my family know of my decision, my dad was highly unimpressed with my decision and just proclaimed that there is no nobility of serving in the force as the politiceans do all the bad work and the jawans & officers get a handful of bullets for all their pain and are commiserated by ways of a distinctive award and a few crocodile-eyed tears by our politiceans. But seeing my strong mental power and respecting the fact that I had made up my decision, he gave in and gave me the green signal. My elder sister was indeed a great help in convincing all of the family that it will indeed be a great acheivemnt and prestige for us if I was admitted into the force as an officer. But the almighty had other wishes and earth shaterringly for me when the advertisements for NDA came out in the Emp. News I was older by four monthes than the minimum age prescribed (prescribed June while I was born in February). So there goes all my NDA dreams .

But I was not to be shaken and I started researching on Short Service Commission and thought of sitting for IMA (Dehradun) or OTA (Chennai) after completing my graduations.

However, dad came in this time more strongly and adviced me to take up a more professional course like Law or Engineering in place of a regular graduation like B.Com or B.A. so that if I could not crack the CDSE after my graduation then still I had other respectable career options open for me in the private sector. I thought that dad's word had wisdom in them laced with experience and straight away decided on Law as I always excelled in Arts subject and moreover, my low affinity for science & maths distanced me from engineering. However, I made this clear on Day 1 to my family that I will never be practising law after completion and am doing it only in pursuance of my defence related interest. For the information of the readers, I can sit for the JAG (Judge-Advocate General) exams after completion of my Law; I know it will be a bit further from the heat of action but still somthing is better than nothing. So here I am about to complete three years in law; two years remaining down the line after which I can sit for my defence exams. Hope, readers leave comments after reading my story with words of encouragement or practical advice (yes Commander, you are the first in line from whom I am expecting this) which will go a long way in helping and motivating me.

Additionally, I am planning for a Ladakh biking trip this August-September on the offroader - Impulse and a trip from Delhi-Assam with the same bike in November. I am in the information collecting and research stage now and any practical advice relating to the trips will also b most welcome. I know it will be a great achievement for me if I would be able to pull off these biking trips as I am the lone adventure biker of the family. Waiting for your valuable inputs readers !!

[neel385]

Originally Posted by SJD@NewDelhi

Hope, readers leave comments after reading my story with words of encouragement or practical advice (yes Commander, you are the first in line from whom I am expecting this) which will go a long way in helping and motivating me .

Good going SJD. The forces are meant for people who do not give up, and seeing your determination to finally become a part of the forces, I can say that you probably do belong to this group. So all the best to you and hope to see you in Uniform in the days ahead!

Originally Posted by SJD@NewDelhi

Additionally, I am planning for a Ladakh biking trip this August-September on the offroader - Impulse and a trip from Delhi-Assam with the same bike in November. I am in the information collecting and research stage now and any practical advice relating to the trips will also b most welcome. I know it will be a great achievement for me if I would be able to pull off these biking trips as I am the lone adventure biker of the family. Waiting for your valuable inputs readers !!

SJD, there are a large number of travelogues in this forum which are a vast store of knowledge in all aspects of travelling. Many members have left invaluable advice on the routes that you will be undertaking and all you need to do is crawl through their experiences. Hoping to see your travelogue soon!!

[nanduchitnis]

Originally Posted by SJD@NewDelhi

Commander, that is quite an inspiring thread that you have started in Team BHP forum; I, for one who is a bike enthusiast was very surprised indeed to get a defence related article tagged in a BHP forum; but given my keen interest for any defence related thing, I opened the thread and found it very informative, encouraging and motivating.
readers, I can sit for the JAG (Judge-Advocate General) exams after completion of my Law; Additionally, I am planning for a Ladakh biking trip this August-September on the offroader - Impulse and a trip from Delhi-Assam with the same bike in November. I am in the information collecting and research stage now and any practical advice relating to the trips will also b most welcome. I know it will be a great achievement for me if I would be able to pull off these biking trips as I am the lone adventure biker of the family. Waiting for your valuable inputs readers !!

SJD:

1. I have biked to Ladakh with my wife when I was 56 yrs old and she was 51. The travel story is here on TEAM BHP.

2. Your father means well for you.

3. My Course Mate was a Para Commando who shifted to the JAG branch midway through his career and retired at the top of the Branch. He had a rewarding career in the JAG branch.

You have expressed yourself so very well here that for a moment I had a lump in my throat.

Thanks for the sentiments expressed !

!! Way To Go !!