Dehradun, June 8: At the Passing Out Parade held in the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun on Saturday, 382 young officers joined the Indian Army.  The parade was organised at IMA's drill square in Dehradun. Lieutenant General Cherish Mathson, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South Western Command, was the reviewing officer of the parade. Among the young men who have promised to ensure the nation's security is 21-year-old Raza Khalid from Ranchi in Jharkhand. While Khalid cleared the entrance test for Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) and BITS Pilani, he was keen on joining the Army. Identical Twins Commissioned Into Indian Army After Pa.ssing Out From Indian Military Academy.

But his dreams of serving the defence forces were alive in him. Speaking to media, Khalid said, "I had cleared IIT and BITS Pilani's entrance exams in the first attempt, but I wanted to join the defence services." He then appeared for National Defence Academy's (NDA) entrance exam and cleared it in the first attempt. After three years of training at NDA, he joined IMA and finished the one-year training.

Khalid is the first person in his family to join the Army. His father Mohammad Khalid is a retired state government employee and mother, Sarwari a housemaker. Khalid said, "I am the first person in my area to become an Army officer." When asked why he was keen on joining the Indian Army, he said, "I joined the army because it is a job of power, respect and dignity."

A total of 459 Gentlemen Cadets were part of the passing out parade which is the culmination of their pre-commissioning training. Of which, 382 officers were commissioned into the Indian Army while 77 military officers belonged to the nine friendly countries of Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives, Fiji, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Lesotho and Tajikistan.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 08, 2019 04:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).