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Journalism of Courage
ALMOST 200 km away from the sea, 35 cadets are training to be officers of the Indian Navy at the landlocked National Defence Academy in Khadakvasla. The boys, who will go on to command submarines and aircraft carriers, face a peculiar problem—most of them have never seen a ship.
But the Navy has solved the problem by building a frigate in the adjoining Khadakvasla Lake. The ‘cement frigate’ is a scale model with authentic fittings like a boom, radar antenna, mast, life rafts, port holes, watertight doors and ship ladders. The frigate, designed to help naval cadets get a feel of life at sea, will toot its fog horn on Navy Day (December 4) when it will be ‘inducted’ into the academy.
‘‘As the cadets are far away from any naval academy, there is a need to make them aware about life at sea. As of now they go only once a year to naval bases, ’’ says Commander D Sreenivas, officer-in-charge, Naval Training Team (NTT). He adds that the model frigate will even help army and airforce cadets get familiarised with naval life.
AT NDA, Naval cadets form just 10 percent of the total intake each year but the academy has devised innovative ways to train them. Be it an information and model room with intricate models of ships, working models of submarines, boats and sail ships at the NTT building or the sparkling new multimedia lab with computer based teaching aids, the naval training infrastructure makes sure that cadets always have the sea in mind.
An example is the innovative simulation radar developed for training cadets on the basics of radar reading. The software, which shows an actual radar screen, gives the cadet a feel of a tension packed radar room with sound effects!
The training for naval cadets doesn’t stop in the classrooms, the picturesque Peacock Bay in Khadakwasla lake is home to a host of activities to ‘acquaint’ cadets with water sports. With sports ranging from the traditional boat pulling to water skiing, peacock bay ensures that no cadet is leaves with the fear of water. Cadets can enjoy an idyllic evening angling in the lake or can take up the more strenuous kayaking or sailing. The idea being to inculcate a ‘hobby for life’ which will also help them in their profession.
The naval cadets may be in the minority but during the course at NDA it is difficult to distinguish them from other cadets. ‘‘ Till the time we are here, all cadets are treated equally. In fact, its a great opportunity to make bonds with people from other services as there is hardly any opportunity to meet them once you join service ’’ says a cadet who will be passing out of the academy this year.
Keeping with the times
• The NTT has also laid out an extensive LAN in its labs to facilitate easy availability of course material. All computers on the campus are connected and cadets can download and view all past training modules and refer to academic material.’
• A Training Design and Evaluation Cell (TDEC) has also been set up recently for ‘Performance analysis’ of cadets. TDEC is a consolidated data bank of cadets performance over the past few years and is grouped subject wise. The data has been laid out in the form of graphs and diagrams to analyse the ‘ progress and deficiencies in the course and students’.
