Army Cadet College, Indian Army

The Army Cadet College or ACC is a pioneer institute of the Indian Army to train soldiers into officers. The regular soldiers of Army, Navy and Airforce are trained into officers through this institution which is now a part/wing of Indian Military Academy, and is now known as Siachen Bn (ACC Wing). The ACC has a diverse history associated with it.

If you look into the history you’ll find that after independence the need was felt to give the serving soldiers a chance to join the officer cadre as per their efficiency. So the Kitchner College (forerunner of Army Cadet College) was revived. Earlier before independence Kitchner College has served as a feeder institution for IMA. Now after revival Kitchner college came to be known as Army Cadet College and was revived in 1960 with the aim to provide deserving soldiers a chance to join the officer cadre of Indian Army. It was established in Nowgaon, Madhya Pradesh. In 1962, after Chinese Aggression Officer Training Institute was established in Ghorpuri, Pune to meet the needs of the Emergency Commission. ACC was then shifted to Ghorpuri, Pune. From there as well it kept on sending Cadets to IMA for commissioning. In 1971 ACC along with NDA became a full-fledged degree college, after the Government’s decision to raise the eligibility criteria for Permanent Regular Commission to a Graduation Degree. Thus NDA and ACC both got affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru University, which in itself is a prestigious institute. The year of 1977 saw the shifting of Army Cadet College from Pune to Dehradun and was attached to the Indian Military Academy as a separate wing. In 2006, ACC Wing was renamed as Siachen Bn and was integrated into the folds of the Academy as a training Battalion.

The training of ACC and NDA are almost of the similar nature. Except in NDA civilian candidates are enrolled and in ACC already serving soldiers of Indian Army, Navy and Airforce are enrolled. ACC molds the raw talents of soldiers into the finest traits of an officer. A cadet of ACC undergoes a three year academic course which also offers him the chance to take part in different sports and also a military training is imparted on the cadet. Then after completion of three years of training the cadet undergoes a final year pre-commissioning training in IMA. Thus an ex-ACC cadet is given one year training in IMA. After which he passes out proudly as an officer.

The admissions in the Army Cadet College are based on a written test followed by Service Selection Board (SSB) interviews for the written qualified candidates. Army Cadet College has always served as a feeder institution for IMA, producing notably brave and great Officers. It still continues to do its job. The cadets of ACC are definitely more Army-like since they have already served in the services. It is an opportunity for all deserving soldiers to rise and perform as per best of their capabilities.

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