Armed Forces Prepare For Another Round Of Cross Posting Of Colonels And Brigadiers Ahead Of Possible Theatre Command Roll Out

The Indian armed forces have recently announced their decision to initiate another round of "cross postings," involving officers of the rank of colonel and brigadier from the Army, who will temporarily serve in the Navy and Air Force, and vice versa.

Preparations for this move, set to take place in October-November, are already underway.

The primary objective behind this decision is to enhance "more jointness" within the armed forces, aiming for better coordination in the event of any future conflicts.

Additionally, the armed forces have also decided to implement common Annual Confidential Reports (ACR) for all officers at the two and three-star level.

This is a significant step towards standardized evaluation, as lieutenant and major generals of the Army, vice and rear admirals of the Navy, and air vice and air marshals of the Air Force will now be assessed in a similar manner, albeit by different authorities.

The implementation of this decision will be applicable to all cases from July 1.

This move follows a previous round in June, during which 31 Army officers, mainly comprising majors and a few lieutenant colonels, were cross-posted to the Navy and Air Force, and vice versa.

The focus during that round was on officers with expertise in fields such as piloting, engineering, and logistics.

Just a month earlier (on 19 June), forces have taken a decision to cross-post officers of even higher ranks of Colonels, Brigadiers and Major Generals and equivalent rank, within the three services.

Historically, interactions between officers from the three services were limited, with occasional encounters at institutions like the National Defence Academy and the Defence Services Staff College.

The current initiative of cross postings aims to foster a deeper mutual understanding among officers from different services.

With these recent decisions, the Indian armed forces are actively pursuing a path of greater integration and cooperation among their branches, anticipating a more coordinated and effective approach in future military endeavors.