It was a special moment as trainees of Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and international cadets took part in the Passing out Parade in Ezhimala on Saturday. A total of 264 trainees including Midshipmen, cadets of Navy, Indian Coast Guard and ten international cadets passed out with flying colours thereby marking the end of ab-initio training.
The glittering ceremony ended with the successful trainees forming up in two columns and marching with their gleaming swords and rifles held in salute, past the Academy’s Saluting Dias, the Quarterdeck, in Slow March, to the traditional notes of ‘Auld Lang Syne’. Passing out courses were bid farewell by a batch of three MiG 29-K fighter aircraft in Vic formation led by Cdr Viaksh Narwal, NM from Indian Naval Air Squadron 303 who carried out a low fly past over the quarterdeck welcoming the new officers to the Navy and joined the celebrations with a bomb burst manoeuvre.
Midshipmen and cadets belonged to four different courses of Spring Term 2019 including 96th Indian Naval Academy Course (B.Tech), 96th Indian Naval Academy Course (M.Sc), 27th Naval Orientation Course (Extended), 28th Naval Orientation Course (Regular) and 28th Naval Orientation Course (Coast Guard). There were 15 women cadets marching shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts of Indian Navy.
The ten trainees from various friendly foreign countries include two trainees each from Maldives, Myanmar and Seychelles, one trainee from Tanzania and three trainees from Sri Lanka. The passing out batch of Sri Lanka trainees have the distinction to be the first batch of foreign trainees to complete the four years B.Tech curriculum from INA, ever since its institution.
Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, awarded medals to eight meritorious Midshipmen and cadets after the ceremonial review. The ‘President’s Gold Medal’ for the Indian Naval Academy B.Tech course was awarded to Midshipman Killamsetty Vikash. The ‘Chief of the Naval Staff Gold Medal’ for the Naval Orientation Course (Extended) was awarded to Cadet Siddharth Sankar. The ‘Chief of the Naval Staff Gold Medal’ for the Naval Orientation (Regular) Course and the ‘Zamorin Trophy’ for the best women cadet (instituted for the first time) was awarded to Cadet Kreeshma R.
Vice Admiral RB Pandit, AVSM, Commandant, INA, Dr Anurag Kumar, Director, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, senior officers of the station and other outstation dignitaries witnessed the momentous occasion. Parents and guardians of trainees witnessed the passing out parade.
