The Infantry Day celebrations were organised by the Infantry School, commencing with wreath laying at the Infantry War Memorial.
Wreaths were laid by lt Gen AS Nandal, UYSM, AVSM, SM, Commandant Infantry School and also by a large number of senior serving infantry officers, veterans and other ranks. lt Gen AS Nandal, UYSM, AVSM, SM, the senior most serving Infantry officer of the station, addressed a Sanik Sammelan of the infantry officers, JCOs, other ranks and civil staff. He exhorted them to keep themselves abreast with latest developments in military aspects and be prepared to meet any challenges from our adversaries in future.
A weapon and equipment display was also organized for the school children by the Infantry School with the aim to spread awareness about the infantry among the school children in which they were enlightened about the weapons and encouraged to join the Army and in particular Infantry.
October 27, is a historically significant day for the nation as on this day, 66 years ago in 1947 the first elements of the Indian Army landed at Srinagar airfield and resolutely defended Kashmir from falling into Pakistani hands. To commemorate this maiden gallant action of the Infantry in the wake of our Independence, October 27, is celebrated as the “INFANTRY DAY”.
Infantry soldiers have always delivered their best in the true traditions of the Indian Army be it, 1962, 1971, Siachen Glacier, Kargil or Counter Insurgency Operations. In addition, infantry soldiers have been intimately associated with humanitarian relief in natural calamities and shouldering additional responsibilities in peace keeping missions to bring global peace on behalf of United Nations.
The Infantry, which is the largest arm of the Army, operates in varied hostile terrain of mountains, glaciated super high altitude area, deserts, riverine or jungle terrain. It is also coveted with 17 Param Veer Chakras, the highest for any arm.