The Indian Military Academy, Dehradun - Diamond Jubilee 1992

The Indian Military Academy, Dehradun (also known as IMA) is the officer training Academy of the Indian Army. IMA was established in 1932.

During the Indian independence struggle, Indian leaders recognized the need for a local military institution to meet the needs of an armed force loyal to sovereign India. The British Raj was reluctant to commission Indian officers or to permit local officer training. Until World War I Indians were not eligible for commission as officers in the Indian Army.

Following the experiences in World War I, where Indian soldiers proved their mettle Montague-Chelmsford Reforms facilitated ten Indians per year to undergo officer training at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. In 1922 the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College (now known as the Rashtriya Indian Military College) was set up in Dehradun to prepare young Indians for admission to Sandhurst. The Indianisation of the Army started with the commissioning of 31 Indian officers. Among this first batch of officers to be commissioned was Kodandera Madappa Cariappa, who later became the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army and the second Indian Field Marshal.

Despite demands, the British resisted expansion of the Indian officer cadre. Indian leaders then pressed for the issue at the first Round Table Conference in 1930. Eventually, the establishment of an Indian officer training college was one of the few concessions made at the conference. The Indian Military College Committee, set up under the chairmanship of Field Marshal Sir Philip Chetwode, recommended in 1931 the establishment of an Indian Military Academy in Dehradun to produce forty commissioned officers twice a year following two and a half years of training.

In 1934, before the first batch had passed out, then Viceroy Lord Willingdon presented colours to the academy on behalf of George V. The first batch of cadets to pass out of the Academy in December 1934, now known as the Pioneers, included Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, General Muhammad Musa and Lieutenant General Smith Dun, who became the Army Chiefs of India, Pakistan, and Burma, respectively.

In 1976, the four battalions of the IMA were renamed the Cariappa Battalion,Thimayya Battalion, Manekshaw Battalion and Bhagat Battalion with two companies each in honour of Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa, General Kodendera Subayya Thimayya, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw and Lieutenant General Premindra Singh Bhagat, respectively. On 15 December 1976, then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed presented new colours to the IMA.

IMA alumni have led and fought in every conflict in which the Indian Army has been called upon to render service since the academy was established. Numerous alumni have earned laurels, made the ultimate sacrifice and been honoured with gallantry awards.

Sam Manekshaw, an alumnus of the IMA, was the first in India to become a Field Marshal.

In 1941, during World War II, then 2nd Lieutenant Premindra Singh Bhagat was awarded theVictoria Cross.