13 October 2011

India: Army Commanders’ Conference

Today at the Army Commanders’ Conference, being conducted at the Manekshaw Centre, high on the agenda were ‘Professional Military Education’ for Scholar Warriors of the Indian Army and ‘Life Cycle Sustainment of Equipment’.

The current professional development philosophy for officers was focused mainly on structured and institutionalised training, aimed at enhancing war fighting skills. The ARTRAC proposal aimed at ensuring that officers gained adequate understanding of issues of national, strategic and technical importance, in their formative years also, through professional military education.

On the ‘Life Cycle Sustainment of Equipment’, it was felt that there was a need for evolving an effective system that would comprehensively address equipment related issues. The aim was for the stake holders to take a ‘womb to tomb’ view of the equipment, right from the concept formulation stage, so that sustainment costs are lowered.

Later in the afternoon, the Chief, Army Commanders and PSOs had a constructive interaction with Shri Shashi Kant Sharma, Defence Secretary and MoD Officials.

During the next two days, the Chief will interact with Army Commanders and concerned PSOs on Operational and Human Resource (MS) matters.