The Indian Army is the land-based branch of the Indian Armed Forces and is responsible for the defense of the nation’s land borders. The structure of the Indian Army is organized into several components, each with its specific roles and responsibilities. Here is an overview of the complete structure of the Indian Army.
The Indian army has the strength of about a million troops and fields 34 divisions. Its headquarters is located in the Indian capital New Delhi and it is under the overall command of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS).
Formation and Structure of Indian Army
- Command: The Indian Army operates six operational commands and one training command. Each command is led by a General Officer Commanding-in-Chief with the rank of Lieutenant General. These commands directly report to the Army Headquarters in New Delhi.
- Division: Each Division is headed by General Officer Commanding (GOC) in the rank of Major General. It usually consists of 15,000 combat troops and 8,000 support elements. Currently, the Indian Army has 37 Divisions including; 4 RAPID (Re-organized Army Plains Infantry Divisions) Action Divisions, 18 Infantry Divisions, 10 Mountain Divisions, 3 Armored Divisions and 2 Artillery Divisions. Each Division composes of several Brigades.
- Brigade: A Brigade generally consists of around 3,000 combat troops with supporting elements. An Infantry Brigade usually has 3 Infantry Battalions along with various Support Arms & Services. It is headed by a Brigadier. In addition to the Brigades in various Army Divisions, the Indian Army also has 5 Independent Armored Brigades, 15 Independent Artillery Brigades, 7 Independent Infantry Brigades, 1 Independent Parachute Brigade,3 Independent Air Defence Brigades, 2 Independent Air Defence Groups and 4 Independent Engineer Brigades. These Independent Brigades operate directly under the Corps Commander (GOC Corps).
- Battalion: A Battalion is commanded by a Colonel and is the Infantry’s main fighting unit. It consists of more than 900 combat personnel.
- Company: Headed by the Major or Captain, a company comprises 120 soldiers.
- Platoon: An intermediate between a company and section, a platoon is headed by a Captain or Lieutenant, or depending on the availability of commissioned officers, even a junior commissioned officer (Subedar). It has a total strength of about 32 troops.
- Section: Smallest military outfit with a strength of 10 personnel. Commanded by a non-commissioned officer of the rank of Havildar or Sergeant.
Indian Army Structure Chart
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Indian Army Commands
The army operates 7 operational commands. Each command is headed by General Officer Commanding-in-Chief with the rank of Lieutenant General. Each command is directly affiliated to the Army HQ in New Delhi.
These commands are given below in their correct order of raising, location (city) and their commanders. There is also the Army Training Commanded abbreviated as ARTRAC. The staff in each Command HQ is headed by Chief of Staff (COS) who is also an officer of Lieutenant General Rank. Besides these, army officers may head tri-service commands such as the Strategic Forces Command, Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) and the Andaman and Nicobar Command.
Corps: A corps is an army field formation responsible for a zone within a command theatre. There are three types of corps in the Indian Army: Strike, Holding and Mixed. A command generally consists of two or more corps. A corps has Army divisions under its command. The Corps HQ is the highest field formation in the army
- Central Command: headquartered at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
- I Corps — Currently assigned to South Western Command
- Eastern Command: headquartered at Kolkata, West Bengal
- 23rd Infantry Division headquartered at Ranchi
- III Corps, headquartered at Dimapur, Nagaland
- IV Corps, headquartered at Tezpur, Assam
- XXXIII Corps, headquartered at Siliguri, West Bengal
- Northern Command: headquartered at Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir
- XIV Corps, headquartered at Leh, Jammu and Kashmir
- XV Corps, headquartered at Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
- XVI Corps, headquartered at Nagrota, Jammu and Kashmir
- Southern Command: headquartered at Pune, Maharashtra
- 41st Artillery Division, headquartered at Pune, Maharashtra
- XII Corps, headquartered at Jodhpur, Rajasthan
- XXI Corps, headquartered at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
- South Western Command: headquartered at Jaipur, Rajasthan
- 42nd Artillery Division headquartered at Jaipur
- I Corps, headquartered at Mathura, Uttar Pradesh
- X Corps, headquartered at Bhatinda, Punjab
- Western Command: headquartered at Chandimandir
- 40th Artillery Division headquartered at Ambala
- II Corps, headquartered at Ambala, Haryana
- IX Corps, headquartered at Yol, Himachal Pradesh
- XI Corps, headquartered at Jalandhar, Punjab
- Training Command: headquartered at Shimla, Himachal Pradesh
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