About Indian Military Academy
The Indian Military Academy (IMA) is an officer-training academy of the Indian Army located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. This military institution came into existence in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up under the chairmanship of Field Marshal Philip Chetwode. In 1932 it had a class of 40 male cadets, which has increased to 1,650 in current time.
OTA (Chennai)
The Officers Training Academy (OTA) is an officer training institution of the Indian Army for the Short Service Commission (SSC). The cadets train for 49-week at the Officers Training Academy (Chennai). It prepares graduates for all branches of the Indian Army, except for the Army Medical Corps.
Criteria | IMA | OTA |
Age Limit | 19-24 years | 19-25 years |
Marital Status | The Candidate Should be Unmarried and Single | Male Candidate Should be Unmarried and Single Female Candidate: Unmarried women, issueless widows who have not remarried and issueless |
Who can apply? | Male Candidates are admitted in the IMA. | Male and Female candidates are trained here. |
Entries |
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Service | 30 Years- Permanent Commission | Maximum 14 years (In some cases officers is given permanent commission)- Short Service Commission |
Training Interval | One and a half years | 49 Weeks |
Indian Military Academy
- Through IMA you will get the Permanent Commission which means you have the option to serve your nation up to the age of retirement which is 60 years as of now.
- Officers of IMA have better promotion opportunities as compared to OTA.
- If someone is serving at the rank of Colonel (and equivalent) and below, he retires at 54 years age. If someone is holding a higher rank, automatically he will get extensions and the Chief retires when he reaches 62 years of age or on the day he completes three years as the Chief.
- An officer who joined the Permanent Commission has no option to switch over to the Short Service Commission. During service, the officer could ask for an early release giving valid reasons and this may or may not be accepted.
Officer Training Academy
- The cadets who are joining the army through OTA have the option of serving as a Commissioned Officer for 10/14 years.
- OTA is a good option for those who want to see the life of Indian Armed forces, and after that want to discover other career paths.
- At the end of 10 years, they have three options.
- Either elect for a Permanent Commission or
- Resign or have the option of 4 years extension.
- They can resign at any time during this period of 4 yrs extension.
- A Short Service Commission empowers you with analytical thinking, planning skills, administrative and organizational abilities through their special courses with institutes like IIM’s etc.
- They equip you with the qualities which will make you an invaluable asset for any organization that you join after the Army and there are opportunities to side step to an alternate career for which the Army will also help you.
- If your performance is excellent and there are vacancies in the higher ranks then there are chances that your SSC will be converted to Permanent Commission.
- In OTA max rank that can be reached is Brigadier.
- OTA (SSC) officers after retirement are not entitled to facilities like ECHS, pension, and other facilities.
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