Training & Grooming of NDA Cadets Need Review & Reform : Nixon Fernando

Editor's Note

The 'Su Motu' , Supreme Court, case hearing of 500 disabled and medically boarded out cadets from military academies on 18 Aug 25 and 4 Sep 25 and also grant of ECHS medical facilities to such medically boarded out cadets by the GoI / MoD vide letter dt 29 Aug 25 have not only shown light to these cadets but also augurs well for the cadets and organisation too . It is ironic that the MoD issued the much awaited letter of relief but only after the first hearing of the suo motu case by SC, when in reality these helpless cadets ,left in the lurch , were waiting for many ,many years!

While this breakthrough relating to these cadets is indeed a positive development, what needs to be seen now are the chief causes that have actually led to the injuries of cadets that 'caused ' these disabilities and led consequently to their boarding out . These 'root causes' need much awareness and attention which are well documented in the 5 volumes of the Victory India Campaign books, numerous articles published by Fauji India Magazine and also the news portal and think tank Mission Victory India ( MVI) . There are over 200 articles that have amply and elaborately covered our selection and training systems not only in NDA but of all military academies.

The Victory India Campaign books were published during 2010 - 2019 . The Fauji India Magazine articles have been published since 2015 , while MVI articles have been published since 2020 . Hence, there is abundant coverage on our officer selection and training systems that clearly identifies the flaws and shortcomings and clearly shows the way out and forward to improve these systems .

Since this subject has now redrawn attention and focus of the nation due to recent SC suo motu case hearing it is imperative that the present readership ,especially the important stake holders need to be sensitized about the rich and varied, well documented material that lies buried in these 200 plus articles.

This article by Nixon Fernando ,one of the most dedicated and committed member of Team Victory India is being published to spread awareness amongst the concerned military fraternity and the learned advocates and honourable judges dealing with the current suo motu case . It should surely trigger many more articles on this subject and linked issues to throw further light for the less aware or ignorant readership.

We invite more such articles on this subject and linked issues .

With Regards and Thanks,

Col Vinay Dalvi,

Editor, MVI

Part 1

Lawless Grooming of Future Military Officers

When referring to the 500 former cadets, who have been boarded out due to medical reasons, the judge said “These cadets have been left high and dry ! ”. No one can deny that; when we look at some critical cases, this insensitivity stares us in the face. But what is also important is to see that this attitude of leaving such cadets ‘high and dry’ in a very subtle but significant manner, also extends to the cadets who are under training.

Of course, the authorities will not agree. For example, we have signboards in the academy that reads “The Cadets have Right of Way”, and maybe even the Commandant’s car will stop some times to ensure that marching or cycling cadets get to use the road in preference. And my HOD in the Physics department would insist, “I am here for the cadets and only for the cadets”. Indeed, the NDA is all about training Cadets, and it exists for the training of the cadets alone. It is well known fact that cadets who sustain injuries are made to sign either a blank statement or a statement for the so called court of enquiry that either puts the blame for his injury on himself or cooked up reasons to safely absolve all his senior cadets ,staff and officers of any blame or responsibility for his injury . This unwritten norm or law enables the official onus of responsibility to be safely shifted onto to the affected cadets themselves ! This practice has resulted in continued unofficial, unscientific and unstructured training resulting in injuries and medically boarding out of cadets . It is high time that such affected cadets and/ or their parents need to state this openly to concerned authorities presently examining or investigating the causes of such injuries . This will surely enable corrective action at NDA and maybe other academies too . So much for the Chetwood moto: somehow, in this instance the order of preference seems to have changed, and the interests of those (ir)responsible officers seem to be taking precedence over the interests of the cadet involved.

Is this treatment meted out only to the cadets who land up in hospital or on way to being boarded out ? How is it with cadets in their normal training, are the authorities answerable or then are the cadets left to their own means?

Cadets form a unique specimen under law. They are neither fully inside the armed forces nor are they fully outside. They are wannabes. And the challenge thrown at them is this: “survive this for three years and you will eventually get your place in the officialdom. You are not inside yet because you don’t come under the Army act and though you are a civilian you must do what your seniors order you to do because you want to be in the military. If you don’t make it … Sorry... But as long as you are here, I will make you spin for training sake and get every senior of yours to make you dance to their tunes.”

Without a doubt you also have gems amongst the officers posted at the academy and they do use their time and energy to get the best out of the cadets and train them conscientiously. And when you see such officers rise to their best, you do realize that the NDA is a place for the best of the best. But that cannot be said about each and every one of the directing staff posted at the academy. And the reality of training at the academy has many compromises.

And what are the overt and covert characteristics of this training?

Standing orders Vs Unstructured training:

Much is written about the training by observers, former cadet participants and former trainer participants and much has come out in official reviews as well. The five books of the ‘Victory India Campaign’ bring out things threadbare and some of the highlights, including the negative ones like there are 19 different sub-academies inside one academy each one with a different ‘environment’. And these environments are based on, besides the standing orders that get issued at the academy level from time to time, also on ‘localized traditions’, ‘personalities’, ‘informal and un-structured training methods’, multiple commands (as opposed to unity of command) and ego-based bullying.

The standing orders are too often observed in their violation than in their following. That is, whatever written law governs the life of the cadet in the academy is not followed in true letter and spirit. Standing orders remain subject to ‘interpretation’. And the leeway, which these interpretations offer, facilitate ego centred seniors saying: ‘The commandant can keep saying what he wants, here and now I am your boss’. So, in each of the 19 squadrons everyone is a commandant when he is tasked to ‘take care’ of juniors who are mandated to stand before him and obey. And this obedience is often due to the subtle threat of what the senior can do to the junior in the latter’s attempt to become an officer of the armed forces. And the ‘reputation’ seeking senior can stretch the limits of his authority as far and as innovatively as he can. And as far as the juniors go, orders are to be followed.

‘Obedience of orders is part of military life’ they say. But these votaries of the system, either wantonly or in ignorance, avoid some inconvenient truths about it.

You did not make it through? You are not tough enough. Another thing about the training is that a senior gets to order a junior around as if the junior cadet is an inside man; someone who is part of his military fraternity. So, is the cadet a part of the military fraternity or not? And the answer is that the cadet is a wannabe who does not come under the Army Act. So, is he a civilian then? No, not really, he is trying to become a military officer and so he has to take military training here and prove his mettle. And so, he has to follow orders. But the Chetwood motto says that if you get to pass orders on your juniors, his interest comes before yours… is it that how it is at the academy? Well, sometimes yes, but mostly no… “In my position I pass orders, in his position he follows orders”, “my dear junior, as for your wellbeing and your survival you have to take care of it yourself. If you want to survive here, do what I tell you to. Never mind if you have to lie, cheat, steal, beg, borrow, do what it takes, just don’t get caught”.

Ultimately no one really knows what is ‘proper’. Quite a few of the cadets excel regardless, the majority pass through the motions, and some unfortunately do not make it through. Those that make it through emerge with a feeling that, like in Spartan (Greece), they have gone through the motions of a ‘rite of passage’ before warriorhood; or maybe something like in the movie ‘Universal Soldier’. They most often carry a condescending attitude which goes: ‘if you cannot survive this, you do not make the cut’. ‘This is military training not a civilian college’. One Chief of Army Staff also came up with this notion that ‘this much attrition rate is acceptable and so let things be as they are, some regular reviews do happen and that is good enough’. So, ultimately if it is Spartan for one squadron, it is universal soldier for someone else, and may be an Amazonian tribe for still another. They have a rite of passage of their own and the secret behind this ‘rite of passage’ is that it all happens under wraps.

If it is all righteous then why is there no transparency? Why should you have to do something on paper and something else on ground ,often behind closed doors ?

Do you mean that in a Military Academy, where you learn the basics of ‘obey and command’, you actually train the future leadership of the armed forces to do what they please, regardless of the commands from above which is issued in writing? And what is the consequence of violation of written orders?

Hero if you can get away with it and Villian if you are caught on the wrong foot?

So, would that mean that, even through foul means, if you can have your own arbitrary notions executed (whether with good intention or bad), despite what the standing orders say, you become a real leader?

And if as a leader, you have taken the right decisions in your officer-like discretion, which is not in line with standing orders, can you stand up for it?

If one ponders over it, it becomes evident that this often promotes an ‘ego’ based system rather than a righteous one or a ‘dharmic’ one. As such it is questionable whether the right values are promoted in all instances. And a proper review is required by psychologists and personality coaches to determine whether the right kind of lessons are being delivered to the cadets.

Is NDA synonymous with excellence?

True that the NDA alumni have given a good account of themselves as junior leaders tested in battle. But is this excellence because of his training at the NDA or despite it?

There is no doubt that NDA gets the best among the best of the nation’s talent, many, if not most, of whom are idealistic about a military life. The success-to-application ratio for the NDA is even lower than for the IAS and that too at a stage in life when the aspiring demographic constitutes a huge idealistic and talented pool. So, a question arises as to whether the excellence in NDA is due to the nature of the talent deployed in it or is it due to the processes adopted in the academy.

It is comparable to the IITs, the excellence in the IITs has more to do with the people who successfully compete to reach its portals, and it does not necessarily have to do with the structure and content of the training. Of course, talented graduates also apply for faculty positions at the IITs and that further helps in idealizing the academic environment. But the truth remains that course content wise, or in procedure, there must be little that separates an above average engineering college from an IIT franchisee. It is the talent pool that pushes the institution to excellence, or else, there should be nothing separating one IIT campus from the other . And we know that an IIT Madras, or an IIT Delhi is not the same as every other IIT. So also, Is NDA successful really because it creates diamonds, or then is it because it gets to deal with diamonds?

Mental Strength:

If ancient wisdom, known to Indians and elsewhere, is right about it, then excellence and mental toughness is connected with a better attitude developed, directly or indirectly, through spiritual (not necessarily religious) strength. It is known that those who are groomed to this strength can sail even through hell by carrying little heavens within themselves. A lot of this grooming happens in the cadets long before they arrive at the NDA portals. And if the psychologists have it right most of it gets fixed before a child turns five. And it is this excellence that mostly gets selected to reach the academy. This lotus of a personality can thrive amidst muck even and that is the spiritual significance of a Lotus in Ancient Indian wisdom.

In the NDA one aspires to create a ‘military environment’ which a cadet must survive, and it is assumed that he is mentally tough if he can survive it. So, there is eagerness to create something that the cadets would define as ‘hell’ in the training at the academy.

But then, in the NDA’s mandate, is there a provision to create a hell in itself, just to weed out those unfit for excellence? Is it given the task of throwing out cadets who are not mentally tough? When there is no such mandate given to the NDA then why is it so hell bent on creating hell within its portals? And why does it give so much leeway to un-trained hands at the academy to tackle weeds, so much so that some lotuses get pulled out in the process.

In summary:

The change in law, needed to compensate trainee dropouts should also tackle the causes that have led to the situation. The issue related to the 500 cadets who were boarded out on medical grounds, needs to be resolved alright, but the causes that brought the cadets to such a pass needs to be looked at closely too. And this must not be seen as an attempt to run down a prestigious institution or its illustrious alumni even if the reasons are valid. Rather it is about the impact this kind of training is having on the next generation of military leaders and consequently on the armed forces of the nation.

What is stated above for NDA could be applicable in some or other ways for other academies too and should be reviewed accordingly to enable corrective action in these academies too !

Part 2

Review & Reform of NDA - The Only Way Out !

Not that reviews of the training at NDA have not happened. Not that good command and leadership at the academy has not attempted to change things at the academy. But such efforts go to naught very soon.

Take this example for instance. It is evident that too much power is handed over to cadets over their juniors though what is otherwise known as ‘informal training’ or ‘unstructured training’.

For instance, in their enthusiasm to train their juniors for the cross-country competition, it is not uncommon for fall-ins to be taken by cadet seniors immediately after dinner, and a huge contingent of the squadron is seen running some stretch of the route for an hour or so on full stomach. In a war like situation, indeed, on full stomach or not, one may have to run. But how does it make sense during training for a cross country or a marathon?

This is just one example which goes to show how wrong notions about physical fitness get into the heads of cadets. And about running, leading to stress fractures and the like. The other examples of funny things done under ‘special unstructured punishments’ sometimes simultaneously with ‘official punishments’, can lead to so much more. And God forbid if these future leaders never learn what proper physical fitness entails, and start implementing funny ideas like this in the Units where the men under them must obey them regardless. (And imagine a leader who makes his men eat a stomach full and immediately makes them charge into war.)

So, it makes sense, both, for improving the training at the academy and also for generally raising the physical wellbeing of the armed forces themselves, that the cadets, because they go on to play leadership roles in their senior years at the academy, and later on in the units, learn the basics of Physical Fitness.

As one of the corrective measures by insightful command and leadership at the academy, so that cadets may have this fuller understanding of the kinds of orders they pass on juniors during informal or unstructured training, a basic course in ‘Theoretical Physical Education’ was made compulsory for all cadets during the period of Covid -19 . And just in a matter of a few months / years that policy has been reversed. There is no such course anymore. Some half-baked intellect would surely have suggested that ‘this course did not exist during our time. So, please take it out’.

One former Vice Chief of Naval Staff, who was also formerly a Dy Commandant at the NDA used to say, “Don’t put your finger in the training at the NDA, your finger will get cut”. Basically, he was talking about not ‘fingering’ with the training at the NDA. That is the kind of attitude that has settled in over the years. Some regular reviews of NDA are mandated and they happen too. Major reviews are ordered from time to time and recommendations are given. But there is something about the NDA which any way leads to nineteen different hostels/academies within the academy. The school-boy pranks, like those by Sainik-school hostel kids, ultimately seems to hold sway in the traditions which the squadrons follow. And these traditions are not written, they evolve, and that evolution too is in one direction; evolution happens till it goes so bad that a death occurs maybe, or something so alarming that the Commandant disbands that squadron and distributes the cadets into all the other squadrons.

What happens is lawless, tradition bound, and a major portion of that tradition is done in hiding. And the junior better not ‘rat’ about it or else get branded as un-military like, or dis loyal, un-fit and such other things…

Traditions are good, but you need to put each tradition through an important test: If you have something in your tradition that you cannot bring to light, and seek to keep it under wraps, under some excuse of ‘military training’ or ‘making of men’ or ‘fit for the Spartan army’, then it is unhealthy. It is definitely not facilitating that junior in becoming a better soldier.

And when such is the training going on in the academy, the probability that a cadet gets on to a downward spiral just due to the ego clash with a senior or due to the sheer ignorance of the senior, is dangerously high. When such has been the situation, the conclusion that those that get weeded out from the system are ‘unfit’ may not be right. They might well be unfortunate lotuses and not necessarily weeds.

The internal mechanisms in the armed forces are not adequate to handle necessary review and reform

It is not that elite and wise academy leadership has no grasp of this, but most leaders find it close to impossible to reform. And where outstanding cadets, junior officers, Squadron commanders, Battalion Commanders and Commandants have stamped their authority, things have changed for the better and there is evidence for it too. But re-lapse happens. This means that the present system is about relying on personalities rather than the system for the goods that need to be delivered. This needs to change; there is a need for setting the basic environment right leaving lesser strain on the ‘goodness of personality’ to drive excellence in that training effort.

Insightful Commandants, serious review committees, efforts from the Chief of Staffs Committee, have all been tried but, it appears that for correction we need to move that baton still higher. The Defence Minister, Mr. Manohar Parrikar, was also sensitised about the issue through a 10 minutes scheduled briefing that stretched to a 40 minutes briefing by the editor of Victory India Campaign & Mission Victory India (MVI), Col Vinay Dalvi , himself on 28 May 2015 . But the minister’s tenure was too short lived after that to create a sufficient impact. On its part the MVI represents a team effort by many senior Veteran officers including former commandants of the NDA, IMA, OTA, etc., Some former Chiefs even, like the erudite Admiral Arun Prakash and deep thinking General VK Madhok of the first NDA course. Outstanding commentators and writers like General Raj Mehta and a list of 100 plus veterans sharing their experience. But despite such committed efforts all round, something in the arrangement that constitutes the NDA leaves the system difficult to influence while still wanting correction and completeness.

And the matter is serious. Former Chief Election Commissioner Mr. TN Seshan himself has pointed out, as brought out in one article in the Victory India Campaign series of books, that the nature of training that is happening at the NDA eventually has a direct impact on the Armed Forces of the nation itself. And the matter must be taken seriously.

Correction is required, and since those at the lower levels find it close to impossible to make changes that last, it appears as if reform must come from the level of PM Nehru himself. NDA was one of his ‘Temples of Modern India’. But the present national leadership is too preoccupied with other more important things that have taken centre stage and impact the nation. The cabinet would have little time to bother with an institution for teenagers that cannot handle itself.

Ultimately, we are left with just two forums that can make decisive change. One being the Parliament, which, in turn, is again too busy with politics and other stuff. And the Supreme Court, which is in fact standing up for things in the nation that need urgent attention.

What must happen now:

It is heartening that the Supreme Court has taken up the case of the medically boarded out Cadets. Could it also address the issue that created the condition in the first place. The training needs proper regulation through a well drafted law. The law must guide the NDA to nurture within itself an environment in which deserving cadets, who come with inspiration in their bearing, get wings to soar. A system that holds the trainee’s hands and not one that leaves him to his own means. After all, if they must go on to be worthy leaders of some of the best soldiers of the world, who they will in turn encounter in the units, they need to be exceptionally trained. And the negatives that do not lead to the best nurturing must go.

The Supreme Court is a superior authority that can help make a difference. It can order a review, or the creation of a suitable law governing all aspects of the life of the cadets, which will be considerate of the cadets, both, while training, and even if they get boarded out on medical grounds. The Australian Defence Academy got a law that was drafted by the Australian parliament. May be our Supreme Court can give directions to the parliament to pass such a law. Or at the least an order to the COSC to create a ‘blue book’ as suggested by the Former Commandant and former CNS Admiral Arun Prakash. Something which will give stability to the Academy. Something which will do justice and minimize risk to the cadet who currently trains at the academy, and will also do justice to the cadets, present and past, who end up boarded out, just because they followed orders.