Army woos youngsters with drill

AMRITSAR, May 14: I am thrilled and I wish to get commissioned into Army'', said Shivani, a 102 student after watching the live drill per...

AMRITSAR, May 14: 8220;I am thrilled and I wish to get commissioned into Army8221;, said Shivani, a 102 student after watching the live drill performed by the Army at the Panthers Stadium here where armoury, artillery and infantary equipment was put on display for school children.

This Army8217;s endeavour incidentally comes on the heels of the country performing the nuclear test at Pokhran. 8220;No, this is not to threaten Pakistan, they already had had enough 8221;, Maj Gen Avtar Singh, general officer commanding of Panthers Division, who had come to share his experiences with the young generation, said, apparently referring to the nuclear tests conducted recently.

The school children were witness to an atmosphere filled with action and charged with patriotism. The interaction was aimed at attracting carrier conscious young boys and girls towards a carrer in defence service, the GOC maintained.

8220; This 130 mm gun can hit the target in Lahore from here only,8221; an enthusiastic Army officer told a curious looking group of children. Pointing towards anti-tank recoil less gun, having a range of 5 km, an Army commander proudly revealed, 8220;This is the gun with which Abdul Hamid had won Param Vir Chakra in 1971 war8221;.

During the ground drill, pilots of Cheetah helicopter from Army Aviation Core displayed its skills in the air. The four-seater helicopter remained suspended in air for about five minutes during one of its display. The helicopter is used for photography, dropping and lifting of equipment and manpower in difficult terrains, an Army official pointed out.

The other guns on display included Russian-made medium gun having range of 27.4 km, Indian field gun with a 17-km range, 120 mm mortar of 6.5-km high angle range, multi-barrel rocket launcher of 23 km range, Vijayanta tank, missiles, cymbeline radar system, sniper rifle and other small weapons.

The school children climbed on to Arjun Tank to know about its components and functioning. They had a satisfaction of rotating the barrel of tank in the Pakistan direction. They also had the feel of other weaponry, most of which was used in 1971 war with Pakistan.

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To create a war-like ambience, a machine gun kept roaring in the back ground firing range.

Maj Gen Avtar Singh said, 8220;I personally feel that interaction with school children should be encouraged to make them aware of their responsibilities towards the defence of the country and to remove misgivings about the Armed force services from their minds8221;.

Citing an incident, he said that recently at a seminar at a DAV school, somebody pointed out that girls were no more keen to marry Army personnel. He said after a little interaction with two girls attending seminar, he asked them about their choice. Interestingly, they declared they had no hesitation in saying that their choice would be an army man. Though, the girls said, they were a little undecided before the interaction.He also recalled the visit of some school children from Kupwara in Kashmir to Amritsar Cantonment. Mere interaction had made them life-time friends of the Army, Maj Gen Avtar Singh pointed out proudly.He said that this time they could invite children from plus one and plus two classes from some selected schools only. He, however, added that keeping the budget consideration in mind, the Army would organise similar exhibitions after summer holidays.

He said Panther Division had drawn out a multi-pronged civic action programme and today8217;s show was a beginning of the endeavour to project the positive image of the Army.