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How to Become a Para Commando Officer?

This is one of the greatest and most arduous tasks a soldier in the Indian Army seeks: to become a Para Commando. Known as "Red Devils," these are elite soldiers who are trained rigorously to conduct special operations that encompass the crux of national security.

In the most difficult and dangerous conditions, which require incomparable courage, physical endurance, and mental strength, these operations are generally conducted.

The article contains everything a candidate needs to know to join this illustrious unit: eligibility criteria, paths to entry, training process, prerequisites, and why one should be a Para Commando.

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What is the Eligibility Criteria for a Para Commando?

Before getting deep into the strenuous selection process, let me first list the basic eligibility criteria one should have.

1. Basic Requirements

• Age: Between 18-23 years for the candidate. It is in this age bracket when a person is supposed to be at the prime physical stage of fitness.
• Height: For this, the minimum height is 157 cm or 5.1 feet for Army and Navy; for Air Force candidates, it is 162.5 cm. Height requirements are necessary so the candidate could handle the physical rigors the job often demands.
• Educational Qualification: The candidate should have passed at least 10th and 12th. This is a basic educational qualification to ensure the candidates have a fundamental base education to take further training.

(Note: Students can pursue various courses like engineering, medicine, lawyer after 12th for an enriched growth)

2. Service Requirements

• Indian Army Service: The candidate should have rendered service in the Indian Army for a minimum period of two years after passing the rally examination. This exposure is so meant to create a stern foundation in military-related discipline and operations for the candidate.

Various paths to Join the Para Commandos

There are two ways in which you can become part of the Para Commandos: either through the rank of a soldier or as an officer.

1. Soldier Entry

• Recruitment Procedure: One becomes a soldier in the Indian Army at paracommando through different entry tests conducted at the National Defence Academy (NDA) or the Combined Defence Services Exam (by UPSC) of the Indian society. These two are highly competitive and exigent exams that require much preparation over the years.
• Physical and Written Tests: After clearing the entry examinations, there are physical tests prepared in the way that a candidate needs to score 100% in these tests without failing at least one test. The written tests would need a minimum pass out of 50% of the total marks in the examination to get enrolled in the Para Regiment. The physical fitness tests include running and push-ups, sit-ups, etc. These are the exercises testing endurance.

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2. Joining as an Officer

• Pre-Commission Training: Gentlemen Cadets from the Indian Military Academy (IMA) and Officers Training Academy (OTA) can opt for the Para Regiment. Normally, two officers per battalion are chosen every year.
• Post-Commissioning: Commissioned officers in any branch of the armed forces may volunteer within five years of service upon end course qualifications and medical and physical standards. This route allows officers who may have acquired a hankering for special forces in-between their career to still apply for and make their way through this elite force.

Check out the Rigorous Para Commando Training Process

After selection, the candidates go through a series of physically and mentally challenging training.

1. Basic Paratrooper Training

For the first time, they all have to be paratroopers. This will take parachuting from flights on high altitudes by an aircraft, to achieve this, the candidate has to execute the same with the closest minute form.

Survival

Involves candidates learning how to survive, including methods which center in living in the wildness, avoiding capture, and secretly moving from one place to another.

(Note: Training process can be rigorous but add the power of positive thinking to your daily thoughts which will help you stay composed)

2. The special forces training

The successful candidates after the completion of three months basic training are taken to Para Commando. It takes another 6 to 9 months for the Para Commando squad in specialized training.

• Combat Tactics: From urban fighting to jungle warfare, the curriculum teaches combat situations.
• Demolitions: It is a core part of special ops work. Candidates must learn how to handle and deploy explosives.
• Advanced Survival Skills: It ranges from wilderness and jungle survival to urban escape and evasion tactics.

Skills Required to Become a Successful Para Commando

A Para Commando needs a mastery of many skills, including:

1. Demolitions and Handling of Explosives

The Para Commandos have to destroy the adversary's infrastructure and equipment. Skill in handling explosives is of prime requirement for this type of mission.

2. Advanced First Aid and Trauma Management

While operating in the field, quite often the Para Commandos are deployed in isolated areas with minimal medical cover. Advanced first aid and trauma management techniques can make a big difference between life and death.

3. Combat Survival Techniques

Surviving hostile environments is a critical part of Para Commando ops: this means evading enemy forces, finding food and water, and staying hidden until extraction.

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4. Weapon Proficiency, including Sniping

Para Commandos are trained on a variety of weapons, from assault rifles to sniper rifles. Precision shooting becomes very essential, too, in eliminating high-value targets.

5. Unarmed Combat Skills

This, therefore, makes unarmed combat skills invaluable in close-quarters combat. The training for unarmed combat includes various martial arts and self-defence techniques.

6. Language and Cultural Awareness

Para Commandos perform their operations in varied environments. A good knowledge of the local languages and customs may prove very important in the success of an operation. 

(Note: English is the most commonly used language around the world. Learning english quickly will help in better communication)

What are the rewards of Joining the Para Commandos?

There are various rewards which a person gets by joining the Para Commandos; some of these are tangible, while others are intangible in nature:

1. Prestige and Recognition

These commandos have not only the status within the Indian Army but across countries. The maroon beret and the Balidan badge are all worn to specify that it is not any normal unit, but an elite unit.

2. Financial Compensation

Apart from regular pay, Para Commandos get certain allowances, like the Special Forces allowance and parachute pay. All these monetary compensations are given considering the hardships and risks involved in the job.

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3. Career Opportunities

The next steps for the Para Commandos are a deeper level of training and specialisation in HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) jumps, deep-sea diving, and mountain warfare, among a host of other things.

By the Para commandos, I answered a higher call; the journey is arduous, strenuous, and demanding of willpower possessed by the fewest. However, those who make it, the rewards are massive: They earn not only a prestigious position within one of the world's most respected special forces units, but also justify a sense of satisfaction that they are part of an elite brotherhood, devoting life and limb to the service and protection of the nation.

Students aspiring to join the elite unit will have to know the process of selection, prepare themselves rigorously, and develop the required physical and mental skills to attain this prestigious goal.

The journey to the Para Commando is indeed hard, but once through, it's one of the most rewarding careers that an Indian Army officer can think of.