Tour of Duty

This section houses articles by defence experts analysing the feasibility of implementing the 'Tour of Duty' policy in the Indian Armed Forces.

Age Determinants of Agniveers: Chronological & Biological Factors
Our soldiers when trained well and put through the grind of PT, Sports & Games perform as good at 32 years as they do at 26 years.

Brigadier Sarvesh D Dangwal

23 Jun 2022
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Agnipath: A Path Towards Self-Immolation?
Dreams of lakhs of youth who are aspirants to join the armed forces having waited for two years were destroyed with the announcement of Agnipath. The initial age stipulations had kept all of them out.

Lieutenant General PG Kamath (Retd)

21 Jun 2022
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Agnipath - Playing With Fire
This scheme will make the Armed Forces the largest “unemployment generator” in the country. Each year, from 2026 onwards, we will release anything between 35,000 to maybe 60-75,000 young men and women, who had been earning a decent salary, into a world of uncertainty.

Colonel Shivaji Ranjan Ghosh (Retd)

21 Jun 2022
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Tour Of Duty Scheme: Explained
"We may as well be walking into a similar trap though engendered by completely different thinking and at variance with the 1962 embarrassment. The Military top brass who will be heralding this phenomenon will most likely not be there to suffer the consequences of the adverse fallout of the ToD."

Brigadier Sarvesh D Dangwal

9 Jun 2022
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Military Service As A Hobby
Is 'Tour of Duty' a quick fix for growing vacancies or a recipe for the militarisation of society?

Smruti Deshpande

18 May 2022
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Tour Of Duty Needs Deliberation
"Three-year tenures would need five cycles of induction and five-year tenures would need three cycles to make up the required numbers. The training duration of 44 weeks for a recruit would remain and hence greater numbers will need to be recruited and trained."

Brigadier Sanjay Sangwan (Retd)

23 Apr 2022
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Agniveer & Tour Of Duty: The Crying Need For A Lean & Mean Army!
"So the old soldier is dead, the new but intelligent fighter is born. Therefore cry not my friends, each age has its own theories of war — which is the only permanent feature of human history. A lean & mean army is the order of the day!"

Colonel Rajinder Kushwaha (Retd)

19 Apr 2022
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Can 'Agniveer Policy' Pass The 'Agni-Pariksha' Of India's Military Requirements?
"A three-year tour of duty will be a challenge for the units who will not know what to do with young eager beavers engaged to perform in a serious profession of soldiering."

Lieutenant Colonel Manoj Channan (Retd)

16 Apr 2022
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Penny Counters & National/Social Security
"Agniveers will be the most suitable candidate to join the dark alleys of the underworld. Even if 2% of compulsorily retired Agniveers choose the underworld, the Military will be feeding 500 trained Agniveers every year to the industry of crime."

Group Captain TP Srivastava (Retd)

16 Apr 2022
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Tour of Duty: The Army Deserves the Best
"The Tour of Duty proposal should be re-looked at again to ensure that quality is not compromised."

Major General Raj Mehta (Retd)

11 Jun 2020
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Dissecting Tour of Duty
"Why would youth like to join Army as jawan under ToD with uncertain future and not prefer to join the police forces? Another government proposal, as commented upon by a veteran Army Commander, is to induct 100 officers and 1,000 jawans per year under ToD with six-months training to man borders."

Lieutenant General PC Katoch (Retd)

1 Jun 2020
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The Indian Army’s ‘Tour of Duty’ Proposal: A Review (Part-II)
Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain assesses the proposed changes to the Indian Army’s recruitment and manning patterns in this two-part commentary.

Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)

21 May 2020
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The Indian Army’s ‘Tour of Duty’ Proposal: A Review (Part-I)
Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain assesses the proposed changes to the Indian Army’s recruitment and manning patterns in this two-part commentary.

Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)

21 May 2020
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Tour of Duty: A Novel Proposal or Sugar-Coated Poison?
Following the Indian Army's novel proposal to allow able bodied youth to serve in the army for 3 years, 'Mission Victory India' interviewed eminent veterans, who shared their insights on the proposed policy. Excerpts below.

Colonel Vinay Dalvi (Retd), Aritra Banerjee

19 May 2020
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'Tour of Duty' Laudable or Laughable?
"Is an "internship” of three years necessary for the potential product to ‘‘experience army life, including serving in combat arms for three years”? Is it proposed to send such an officer/soldier directly on active combat duty?"

Air Commodore Suryakant Bal (Retd)

17 May 2020
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