Indian Armed Forces Set To Establish First Integrated Theatre Command

As the first Integrated Theater Command (ITC) is being set up, the Indian military is going through its biggest reorganization since independence. A defense official said, “The South Western Command (SWC) in Jaipur will be the first theater command, followed by the Northern Theater Command in Lucknow.”

On Independence Day, a decision about this is likely to be made public.

The South Western Command will be used as a test bed for the ITC at first so that problems can be fixed and the necessary changes made. The next in line is the ITC, which is based in Lucknow. After that comes the Maritime Theatre Command, which is based in Karwar, Karnataka, and is in charge of coastal and maritime activities.

“One Border, One Force” is the idea that is being used to figure out the orders. The Western Integrated Theater Command will be in charge of Pakistan’s defense and security. Lucknow, which is the headquarters of the Indian Army’s Central Command, will become the offices of the Northern ITC. The Northern ITC will be in charge of the whole northern border with China.

The proposed ITCs will be made from the current command structure of each Service, so no new posts or ranks will be needed. At the moment, the Army, Air Force, and Navy work together with 17 separate commands. The Army has seven commands, the Air Force has seven commands, and the Navy has three commands.

China reorganized its seven military regions into five theater commands in 2016. The Indian border is now under the tactical control of China’s Western Theater Command.

The ITC will change the way the Army, Navy, and Air Force work together to fight wars. Discussions are still going on to find the first officer with the rank of Lieutenant General who will become the first Theater Commander. The structure of the Armed Forces’ warfighting is being reorganized into theater commands. The goal is to have all three forces’ assets under one commander who is in charge of all activities in his theater.

Sources say that if the appointment is based on seniority, Lt. Gen. RP Kalita, who joined the army in 1984 and is now the GoC-in-C of the Eastern Command in Kolkata, will be the most senior general in line for the job.

If the fact that an officer has worked in the same place for a long time is a factor, the current SWC Commander, Lt. Gen. Baggavalli Somashekar Raju, will be picked. On April 15, 2005, the SWC was officially set up, and on August 15, 2005, at the Jaipur Military Station, it began to work. On March 1, this year, Lt. Gen. Baggavalli Somashekar Raju took over as head of SWC. In 1984, Lt. Gen. Raju was given an order to join the Jat Regiment.

Sources say that the Theater Commander will have to work until he or she is 61 to be able to retire. While the heads of the Services, like the Chief of the Army Staff (CoAS), are in charge for three years or until they turn 62, whichever comes first. It is always 60 years for all leaders with the rank of Lieutenant General.

In 2019, the government set up the Department of Military Affairs and named General Bipin Rawat as the Chief of Defence Staff. This was the first step in a big change at the Higher Defence Management level. The CDS is in charge of making the Theater Command and integrating and coordinating the military forces.

The Department of Military Affairs is in charge of helping to reorganize Military Commands so that resources are used most efficiently. This is done by making actions more coordinated, such as by setting up joint or theater commands. The current plans are based on the studies that the Commands of the three services were asked to do about the organization and structure.

In the case of the Army, the study was done by South Western Command and Central Command. The tests were done by the Central Command of the Air Force and the Eastern Command of the Navy. General Rawat, who was CDS and died in a bad accident in December 2021, started the process of making the war more like a play. This caused the process to take longer.