Gen Upendra Dwivedi and his wife arriving at the NDA’s Khetrapal Parade Ground, on May 29, 2026. (Photo: NDA)
Khadakwasla, Pune: Forty-five years after joining the National Defence Academy’s Charlie Squadron as a young cadet, General Upendra Dwivedi walked back onto the Khetarpal Parade Ground at the esteemed military institution, this time as the chief of the Indian Army.
The moment carried quiet weight. In January 1981, he had arrived at the NDA in Khadakwasla, Pune, as part of the 65th Course, assigned to Charlie Squadron. On Friday, he returned to the same squadron lines as the nation’s most senior Army officer, to review the passing-out parade of the 150th Course – a full four decades separating the cadet from the general.
The parade, held at 6.40am at the Khetarpal Parade Ground, marked the graduation and initial training of 355 cadets from the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force. The graduating cohort will now proceed to their respective pre-commissioning academies – the Indian Military Academy, the Naval Academy or the Air Force Academy – before being formally commissioned as officers.
For Gen Dwivedi, the journey from those parade grounds to the reviewing dais has spanned nearly four decades of service.
Commissioned into the Jammu & Kashmir Rifles on December 15, 1984, he rose through positions in training, staff, command and overseas deployment. He commanded the Northern Command – the only formation of the Indian Army tasked to operate against both China and Pakistan. He then went on to become the vice-chief of the service and eventually taking charge as the 30th chief of the Army staff.
The occasion was preceded by a convocation ceremony on Friday, at Habibullah Hall, where retired IPS officer and former lieutenant governor of Puducherry Dr Kiran Bedi addressed the graduating cadets as the chief guest. A full dress rehearsal featured a flypast by Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets, followed by performances by the Sarang aerobatic team and the Akash Ganga skydiving team.
The NDA, currently under the command of Vice Admiral Anil Jaggi, takes in school graduates and puts them through a three-year programme of military training and academic education. This model that has remained the backbone of India’s officer-making tradition since the institution’s founding.
The 150th Course passes out at a moment of transition for the academy. As India Sentinels had reported, 148th Course, which graduated in May 2025, made history as the first to include women cadets, marking a structural shift in how India trains its military officers. Friday’s parade builds on that chapter, reflecting an institution that continues to evolve even as its traditions endure.
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