Types of TAThe Territorial Army initially had var-

ious types of units such as Armed Regt,Infantry Battalion, Air De-

fence, Medical Regt , Engi-neers Field Park Coy, Signal

Regiment, EME Workshop,Coast Battery, ASC GT Coy,

ASC Compo Platoon, AMC FieldAmbulance, by 1972 these unitshave either been disbanded orconverted to Regular Army.

FunctionsThe Territorial Army is a part

of the Regular Army and its pres-ent role is to relieve the Regular Armyfrom static duties and assist civil ad-ministration in dealing with naturalcalamities and maintenance of es-

sential services in situations where lifeof the communities is affected or se-curity of the country is threatened,

and to provide units forRegular Army as andwhen required.

StrengthPresently theTerritorial Armyhas a strength of40,000 personnelcomprising De-partmental TA suchas Railway, IOC,ONGC, and Non De-partmental TA of InfantryBattalion, Ecological Battalion (TA) af-filiated to various Infantry Regimentsand Engineer Regiment (TA) for main-tenance of Line of Control Fencing.

Roles and Responsibilities❚ The TA units were actively involved in1962, 1965 and 1971 operations. The “Ter-

riers” have also taken part inOperation Pawan in Sri Lan-

ka, Operation Rakshak inPunjab and J&K, Opera-tion Rhino and Opera-tion Bajrang in theNortheast in a most ac-tive manner. ❚ Departmental unitscame to the aid of the

civil authorities duringndustrial unrest and nat-

ural calamities, most fa-mous being the earthquake in

Latur (Maharashtra), Uttarkashiin Garhwal Himalaya and the SupperCyclone in Odisha. ❚The Ecological units have arrested manmade environmental degradation byplanting approx six crore and 65 lakhtrees in Mussoorie Hills and Pithora-garh (UK), Shimla (HP), Jaisalmer (Ra-jasthan) Bhatti Mines (Delhi), Chard-uar, Kokrajhar (Assam) & Samba (J&K).

ARMY OFCELEBS

Many famous people, especially sportsmen, have joined the Territorial Army.Recently, Lt Col MS Dhoni was deployed in Kashmir as part of Victor Force to take up

patrolling, guard and post duties. A look at others who have pitched in...

MS Dhoni will be deployed inKashmir as part of VictorForce. The former India cap-tain will stay with the troopsand will take on the duties of

patrolling, guard and post duty.Lieutenant Colonel (Honorary) MS Dhoni

proceeded to 106 TA Battalion (Para) from July31 and remained there till August 15. Dhonihad taken a two-month break from cricket toserve his regiment. Dhoni was accorded the ho-nour by the Indian Army in 2011.

Four years ago, Dhoni became a qualifiedparatrooper when he completed five parachutetraining jumps from the Indian Army aircraft

at the Agra training camp. Dhoni has been seenin his Army greens on many occasions. In therecent World Cup, there was a controversy overa military logo he sported on his wicketkeep-ing gloves, something that the ICC objected toand was later covered.

Recently, West Indies pacer Sheldon Cot-trell praised Dhoni for his dedication and lovefor the Indian Army. Cottrell, a soldier in theJamaican Defence Force, took to Twitter andsaid that Dhoni is an inspiration both on andoff the field. “This man is an inspiration onthe cricket field. But he is also a patriot and aman that gives to his country beyond duty,” hetweeted.

THE ROLL OFHONOUR

INTERNATIONAL STARSWHO SERVED MILITARY

From my childhood, I hadwanted to join the Army. I

used to visit the cantonmentarea and seeing the soldiers, Ihoped that one day I could beamong them.

MS DHONI

The English raised the TerritorialArmy in 1920 through IndianTerritorial Act of 1920 and itcomprised two wings – ‘TheAuxiliary Force’ for Europeans &Anglo-Indians, and ‘The IndianTerritorial Force’ for IndianVolunteers. After Independence, theTerritorial Army Actwas passed in1948 and thefirst IndianGovernorGeneral, C Rajagopalachari, for-mally inaugurated theTerritorial Army. It iscelebrated with the TADay Parade every year.

KAPIL DEV

The man who brought the Cricket World Cup toIndia in 1983, joined the Territorial Army in 2008and was bestowed the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.He is the first cricketer to ever receive this hon-orary rank.

SACHIN TENDULKAR

Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar was honouredwith the rank of group captain in 2015. He becamethe first sportsperson to be conferred the hon-orary title and the first without an aviation back-ground to receive this honour. The batsman hasbecome the face of the Indian Air Force of youth.Recently, he was seen attending a 83rd Air Forceday celebration in Hindon.

ABHINAV BINDRA

Abhinav Bindra became a legend when he won a Goldin shooting in the Commonwealth Games 2014 heldin Glasgow. After capturing the Gold at the 2008Olympic Games in Beijing, he was honoured with therank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army in2011, along with Mahendra Singh Dhoni. While Dhonijoined the Para regiment, Bindra joined the SikhRegiment of the Territorial Army.

SACHIN PILOT

Sachin Pilot is a politician and a member of theIndian National Congress. Pilot became theyoungest Member of Parliament in the country atthe age of 26. On September 6, 2012, he becamethe first Union minister of India to be commis-sioned as an officer (rank of Lieutenant) in theTerritorial Army, thus fulfilling his own desire tofollow his father’s footsteps and be in the armedforces. Recommended from the Bangalore SSB, hejoined the Sikh Regiment in 2012.

VIJAY KUMAR

Vijay Kumar, the Indian shooter who wasserving in the army, grabbed the silvermedal in 25 mtr rapid fire pistol event in thesummer Olympics 2012. He is gettingtrained to excel his shooting skills.

RAJYAVARDHAN SINGH RATHOREAnother eminent sports andpolitical personality, Rathorehas been a source of prideand inspiration for our coun-try. He has won numer-ous gold and sil-ver medals inshooting inthe Comm-onwealth Games andWorld ShootingChampionships.Rathore is a graduateof the NationalDefence Academy. Heserved as an officerin the Indian Armytill 2013, post which,he took early retirementas a Colonel.

DEEPAK RAOMajor Deepak Rao is a multi-facetedpersonality. He is an Indian militarytrainer, author, and physician and is con-sidered to be a pioneer in the field ofclose quarter battle training. He wasmade the brand ambassador of theTerritorial Army.

Deepak and wife Seema have been train-ing the forces for the past 17 years.They are both doctors, but have beentraining Indian forces in commando war-fare and counter-terrorism

MOHANLAL

A versatile actor from Kerala, Mohanlal, in2009, became the first and only actor toreceive the honorary rank of LieutenantColonel in the Territorial Army. He hasbeen honoured with Padma Shri.

Sean Connery – British Royal NavyHe might beknown as the ulti-mate James Bondactor, but SeanConnery onceworked in theBritish RoyalNavy.

Rock Hudson – US NavyRock Hudson enteredthe US Navy in1944, just after hefinished school. Heserved in thePhilippines as aNavy aircraftmechanic until 1946.

Alan Alda – US Army ReserveMost of usremember actorAlan Alda for hisrole as HawkeyePierce in the showM*A*S*H. Aldafirst received mili-tary training whenhe was still a sen-

ior at Fordham University and later took up theReserve Officers’ Training.

Steve McQueen – US MarinesSteve McQueenactually served inthe US Marinesbetween 1947 and1950. However,his natural rebel-lion made histime in the Armya lot more diffi-cult than he hadhoped. Because of his behaviour, was actuallydemoted seven times!

Zulay Henao – US ArmyYou might not have knownthat this gorgeous modeland actress is actually aUS vet. Henao servedin the military forthree years right afterhigh school andbefore she enteredher acting career.

The TA units with astrength of 40,000 person-nel were actively involved in

1962, 1965 and 1971 operations. The“Terriers” have also taken part inOP PAWAN in Sri Lanka, OP RAK-

SHAK in Punjab and J&K, OPRHINO and OP BAJRANG in

the Northeast.

LEARNING WITH NIE FUNCTIONS OF THE TERRITORIAL ARMY

God loved the birds and invented trees. Men loved the birdsand invented cages. Jacques Deval06 KNOWLEDGEPEDIA