COMMON UNIFORMS AT HIGHER RANKS OF THE ARMY

A decision has been taken at the recent Army Commanders Conference that all officers of the rank of Brigadier and above — Major Generals, Lieutenant Generals, and General — will wear common uniform items irrespective of their regimental or corps affiliation.
All officers of the rank of Brigadier, Maj General, Lt General, and General will now wear berets (caps) of the same colour, common badges of rank, a common belt buckle, and a common pattern of shoes.

What they cannot wear?

They will no longer wear regimental lanyards (cords) on their shoulders.
They will also not wear any shoulder flashes like ‘Special Forces’, ‘Arunachal Scouts’, ‘Dogra Scouts’, etc.
Thus, there will be no item of uniform that will identify them as belonging to a particular Regiment or Corps.

Present position:

As of now, all officers from the rank of Lieutenant to General wear uniform accoutrements (additional items of dress or equipment) as per their regimental or corps affiliation.
Infantry officers and Military Intelligence officers wear dark green berets;
Armoured corps officers wear black berets;
Artillery, Engineers, Signals, Air Defence, EME, ASC, AOC, AMC, and some minor corps officers wear dark blue berets;
Parachute Regiment officers wear maroon berets; and
Army Aviation Corps officers wear grey berets.

Need for change:

Regimental service in the Army ends at the rank of Colonel for most officers who rise further.
Thus, all uniform affiliations with that particular Regiment or Corps must also end at that rank, so that any regimental parochialism that may exist is not promoted to the higher ranks.
Since appointments at higher ranks can often mean commanding troops of mixed regimental lineage, it is only appropriate that the senior officers commanding these troops should present themselves in a neutral uniform rather than a regimental one.

SOURCE: THE HINDU, THE ECONOMIC TIMES, PIB

Post Views: 98