The Academy is located amid a sprawling estate of 650 acres traversed by River Adyar adjoining the Chennai International and Domestic Airport , about 15 kms from the Chennai Central Railway Station along the Grand Southern Trunk (GST) Road. In its vicinity is the imposing prominence of the historic Saint Thomas Mount and its Roman Catholic Church that consecrates the memory of Saint Thomas , one of Jesus Christ's 12 apostles, martyred on the Mount in 72 AD. It remains to this day a hallowed spot extremely popular with the tourists from all parts of the world. The cantonment dates back to the 18th Century when it was an important bastion of the Army of the Madras Presidency. Initially, the Mount was the scene of one of the fiercest battles of the Franco-British wars on 07 February 1759, subsequent to which the cantonment was established in the area in December 1774. However, most of the barracks were built during the period between 1815 to 1952.
Heritage Landmarks
Let us not forget the importance of heritage buildings amidst the talk of new aesthetically designed buildings coming up at the OTA. The very term Heritage buildings inside OTA points towards the White House, the Officers Mess and the Flag Staff House. Every building is an architectural wonder and has a history behind them, for most of the buildings were built between the years 1815 to 1952. White House
Known also as ‘the Head Quarters, the White House has the proud privilege of holding the prestigious offices of the Commandant, DCCI, Col GS and
Seven Officers Training Schools were established to meet the escalated demand for officers during the turbulent years of World War II. The Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai was established in January 1963 as the Officers Training School (OTS) in the wake of the Chinese aggression to respond to the National Emergency declared during the period. The sudden growth in the demand for officers at the time, in fact, gave birth simultaneously to two Officers Training Schools, one each at Pune and Madras. While the school at Pune was closed down in 1964, the one in Madras continued to function. It evolved into a modern institution to become a premier precommission training academy in the country today. Although the setting up process began in September 1962, the Officers Training School, Madras was formally inaugurated with Brig Ram Singh as its founder Commandant on January 15, 1963 by Mr C Subramanian, the then Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries. On being granted a permanent status in 1985, the OTS was re-christened as the Officers Training Academy on January 1, 1988 placing it on a par with IMA and NDA. The academy is located in a sprawling estate of 650 acres about 15 km south of the Chennai city. To begin with, the OTS imparted training only to the cadets of Emergency Commission (EC) Courses. A formal government sanction was accorded for its new role on February 2, 1965 to train officers for the Short Service Regular Commission (non-tech) and the Short Service Regular Commission (compulsory service liability).
The Short Service Regular Commission (compulsory service liability) Course - 1 passed out of the OTS on Novermber 21, 1965 and the Short Service Regular Commission (non-tech) Course -1 passed out with a strength of 413 cadets on April 24,1966. The Short Service Regular Commission (compulsory service liability) was discontinued in May 1967 and the Short Service Commission for Technical Arms and Services was introduced on November 3, 1969 which lasted till March 1982. By then, the training of the Special List (SL) Officers and Regimental Commissioned Officers (RCOs) had also become a charter of the OTS on required basis and the first Special List Officers Course was conducted from October 12 to December 10 , 1970.
On the grant of government approval for the induction of women into the officer cadre, the onerous task of imparting them pre-commission training on behalf of the Army fell on OTA. The first Women’s Special Entry Scheme (officers) Course with 25 lady cadets got underway on September 21, 1992 after the specially customised infrastructure had been created. The syllabus helped them imbibe the essentials in a short span of 24 weeks as against 44 weeks for their male counterparts. The lady cadets formed a part of other companies till March 1998, when they were organised into a separate (Zojila) company. With its growing reputation for excellence and professional commitment, the OTA has had the distinction to train cadets from foreign armies since 1980. A total of 74 cadets were commissioned into the Sri Lankan army after being put through an exclusive pre-commission course in 1980-81, and another 10 were commissioned into the Ugandan army after a training with SSC-67 in the year 1998.
ART 2
