Genesis

The genesis of the OTA can be traced back to the Second World War, when the necessity of training selected Indians for commissioned ranks in the Army was felt. A total of seven Officers Training Schools were established in India during the period 1942-45. However these were closed down after the War. In the wake of the Chinese Aggression in October 1962, a National Emergency was declared and two Officers Training Schools were established - one at Madras and the other at Poona in January 1963 to provide Emergency Commissioned Officers to the IA. The School at Poona was closed down on 09 May 1964 while the one at Madras continued to function.

Location

The Academy is located on a sprawling campus of 637.65 acres, bifurcated by the River Adyar adjoining the Chennai International and Domestic Airport, about 15 kms from Chennai Central Railway. In its vicinity, is the imposing prominence of the historic Saint Thomas Mount and its Roman Catholic Church that consecrates the memory of Saint Thomas, one of Jesus Christ's 12 Apostles, martyred on the Mount in 72 AD. The Cantonment dates back to the 18^th Century when it was an important bastion of the Madras Presidency. The Mount was the scene of one of the fiercest battles of the Franco-British War on 07 February 1759. Subsequently the Cantonment was established in the area in December 1774. The earliest surviving construction the Officers Mess dates back to 1815.

Inception And Growth

The OTS at Madras was set up in September 1962 and the first Emergency Commission (EC) Course with a complement of 442 young trainees commenced their training on 15 Jan 1963. Brig Ram Singh the first Commandant alongwith Shri C Subramaniam, the then Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries, formally inaugurated the OTS with an inspiring speech that has proved prophetic.

"I have no doubt that when History comes to be written, it will be
said that our young men of today did not fail to rise to the
occasion and they came forward in thousands for the defence of
our great Nation."

The Emergency Commission Courses continued till April 1965 and EC-12 was the last course to pass out in Oct 1965. After 1965, OTS started training Gentlemen Cadets for Short Service Commission (SSC). The scheme also included SSC Course (Compulsory Liability Scheme) for Class I and II Gazetted Officers of the Central Government and Public Sector Undertakings. The scheme ended in 1968 when SSC Courses for Technical Arms and Services were introduced. In the 70's few essential infrastructural developments like the Swimming Pool, Auditorium, Science Block and Laboratories, Drill Square, Cadets' Mess, Weapon Training sheds were created to facilitate training. In spite of the acute shortage of accommodation and limited training facilities, OTS also successfully conducted Special List (SL) Officers Course Serial-1 in 1970 and Serial-2 in 1973-74.

 NDA Wing at OTA

One of the highlights during 1975-76 was the opening of the NDA Wing at the OTS to train the overflow of successful NDA candidates for a Three Year Degree Course. An Expert Committee of Jawahar Lal Nehru University visited OTS to assess the suitability of the campus for running the course. Hectic activity preceded the induction of the 55th Regular Course into the OTS to build necessary infrastructure in conformity with the requirements laid down by JNU Expert Committee. This additional task was completed by July 1977.

Officer Cadets from Friendly Foreign Countries

Apart from training Indian Officer Cadets, the Academy also been training Officer Cadets from Friendly Foreign Countries. In 1980, for the first time, 29 Sri Lankan GCs started training in OTA as part of the Indian Technical and Educational Co-Operation (ITEC) Programme. Officer Cadets from countries like Sri Lanka, Uganda, Lesotho, Seychelles, Jamaica, Fiji, Tonga and Afghanistan have been trained at OTA. Since then more than 525 Foreign Cadets have passed out of the Academy.

Roshni

In 1987, the OTA Song 'Roshni' was composed by the combined efforts of Sub SP Gautam, GCs and Officers. It was subsequently given final shape by the then Commandant Maj Gen N Vishwanathan.

OTS Re-Named as OTA

The much-deserved approval for renaming Officers Training School as Officers Training Academy was recieved in 1988 on the occasion of Silver Jubilee of the Academy. This placed the Academy at par with Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.

Colour Presentation by  Shri R Venkatraman -  Aug 1990( the then President of India)

His Excellency Shri R Venkatraman visited OTA in Aug 1990 and presented Coveted Colours to the Academy. Shri R Venkatraman was the first President to visit OTA, Chennai. This was a big breakthrough for OTA as it placed OTA at par with other Academies and recognised the contribution of OTA to the Indian Army. The coveted Presidential Colours were presented on 18 August 1990. This honour recognises the contribution of OTA, Chennai in the defense of the Nation and inspires the newer generations to achieve greater laurels.

Induction Of Women Into the Officer Cadre

In 1992 OTA, Chennai became the first and only PCTA to train and Commission Lady Cadets in the Indian Army. So far, around 2000 Lady Cadets have already been commissioned into the Indian Army.

Computer Lab

One of the major achievements of the OTA in the year 1999 has been establishment of a state of the art Computer Lab with Smart Class and procurement of 51 Pentium Computers and allied peripherals for computer training of the cadets. A Local Area Network with 27 nodes connecting both the Battalions and nearly all of the Branches and Sections of the Academy has been established, paving the way for full automation of the OTA.

Chennai: Permt Loc of OTA

Notwithstanding its establishment since 1962 the decision for OTA to be permanently located at Chennai was approved by the Government in 1999. Subsequently, the Key Location Plan of OTA was approved in 2000. Since then, infrastructure development of the Academy has gained pace. Concurrently, the designed capacity was increased to 750 Officer Cadets from 500. The Cadets' Mess, Weapon Training facilities, Obstacle Training Course, Mechanical Laundry, Kote, Lecture Halls, Library, Cadets' living Accommodation, Auditorium, Physical Training Sheds, Equestrian Area and Sports Fields have since been completed.

Increase in Duration of Training

In the year 2003, the duration of training was increased from 44 weeks to 49 weeks with GCs of SSC – 77 course and continues till date.

Substantive Promotion

SSCOs were now eligible for substantive promotion wef 16 Dec 2004:-

(i) To the rank of Captain - on completion of 2 years reckonable commissioned service.

(ii) To the rank of Major - on completion of 6 years reckonable commissioned service.

(iii) To the rank of Lieutenant Colonel - on completion of 13 years reckonable commissioned service.

Short Service Commission (Women)

In August 2008, the training duration of Lady Cadets was upgraded and brought at par with their male counterparts with the introduction of Short Service Commission (Women) Course.

Golden Jubilee

OTA Chennai, celebrated its Golden Jubilee from Jan 2012 to Mar 2013. The ceremony was graced by Dr K Rosaiah, Governor of Tamil Nadu on 16 Jan 2012. The Golden Jubilee Parade was held on 07 Mar 2013 and was reviewed by Lt Gen Surendra Nath, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, GOC-in-C ARTRAC and was attended by more than 500 Alumni of OTA and their family members. A commemorative stamp and a Photo Journal "The Golden Milestone" were also released. A Special OTA Movie was also released by Shri Shekhar Dutt, SM, then Governor of Chhattisgarh, who is also an alumnus of OTA, Chennai.

OTA Warriors Pledge

In 2015 the OTA Warriors Pledge was introduced by the Commandant Lt Gen Bobby Mathews, AVSM**, VSM. This Pledge is invoked everyday by Officer Cadets before commencement of daily training. 

Integrated Training

As a landmark initiative, wef Jun 2020, all Gentlemen and Women cadets started undergoing Integrated Training.  This is huge value addition, benefits of which are visible in training standards and camaraderie.

Honours and Awards

In keeping with the spirit of professionalism and patriotism inculcated by their Alma Mater, the alumni of the OTA have distinguished themselves with numerous honours and gallantry awards. These include Maj R Parameshwaran (Posthumous), the lone recipient of the Param Vir Chakra (PVC) in OP PAWAN, who made the supreme sacrifice displaying the most conspicuous gallantry. 2 Lt SS Samra and Major (Now Brig) KS Chandpuri won Maha Vir Chakra(MVC) during 1971 War and Major Jasram Singh and Capt JS Raina were awarded Ashok Chakras during Counter Insurgency Operations in the North East. Lt Rajeev Sandhu who was posthumously awarded Maha Vir Chakra in OP PAWAN, Major KG Chatterjee who won Maha Vir Chakra in SIACHEN Operations and 2 Lt (now Maj Gen) CA Pithawalla who won Ashok Chakra in Counter Insurgency Operations are some of the officers the Academy is proud of. In the Kargil operations, the Alumni of OTA won four Maha Vir Chakras. Major Padmapani Acharya (Posthumous), Lt Balwan Singh, Major Sonam Wang Chuk and Lt Keishing Clifford Nongrum (Posthumous) are the recipients of this prestigious award.

The tally of gallantry awards won by the alumni is as under :-

(a) Param Vir Chakra  01

(b) Ashok Chakra         08

(c) Maha Vir Chakra    10

(d) Kirti Chakra            20

(e) Vir Chakra              63

(f) Sháurya Chakra     118

(g) Sena Medal           579

(h) Yudh Seva Medal  22

Unit Citation

The Academy was awarded with the GOC-in-C ARTRAC Unit Citation on the occasion of Army Day 2022 for outstanding and exemplary performance.

Sports Milestone

The Alumni from Officers Training Academy have also made their mark in sports. In 1973, Battalion Under Officer Harcharan Singh, was one of the star performers in the Indian Hockey team that took part in the World Cup Hockey Championship at Amsterdam. Later he represented India at 1976 Olympics. He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1981. Capt Romeo James represented the Indian Hockey team as the star goalkeeper, at Los Angles Olympics.
In the year 1983, Officers Training School (OTS) Polo team won the Madras Gold Vase by defeating  61 Cavalry by a handsome margin. The team also won the Grand “Kolanka Cup”, which has its unique place in the Guinness Book of World Records, as the tallest cup in the World. GC Rohit Dagar of OTA won 3 gold and 2 silver medals in the National Equestrian Championship held at Chennai from 16-27 Dec 1999. The OTA team also won a bronze medal in tent pegging competition.  In 19 Maj Neha Bhatnagar led the IA team to scale the Mt Everest from the South ridge route.

OTA Alumni Association

Formation.  Officers Training Academy Alumni Association was formed in 2000 by the then Commandant, Major General GH Israni, VSM

Membership.  At present there are 8935 members. Foreign Alumni are also being given Honorary Membership.

Regional Centres.  Regional Centres have been established at Delhi (NCR), Chandigarh, Pune, Kolkata and Bhopal with elected Coordinators.

Activities.  The major activities in a calendar year include the Annual Alumni General Body Meet in the month of Sep followed by Alumni Dinner and org of Reunion of Golden Jubilee and Silver Jubilee Courses

Young Leaders Training Wing

On 23 Sep 20119, Young Leaders Training wing was inaugurated by the then COAS Gen Bipin Rawat, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, YSM,SM, VSM,ADC to nurture the aspirations of serving soldiers to become commissioned officers.