Bengaluru: “Courage isn’t the absence of fear. It is the ability to overcome fear that makes you special. The earlier you will, the better solider you become. The focus of our training here is to make the young recruit fearless at the earliest,” says Lt Col Manish Sharma, General Staff Officer (Training), whose job is to coordinate and monitor the training conducted at the Parachute Regiment Training Centre (PRTC).
During a visit to the PRTC facilities here recently, the young recruits exhibited glimpses of their breathtaking skills from their rigorous training modules.
“We continuously work on building the confidence of the recruits in their training and their own abilities as well. The tests like ‘confidence walk’ and ‘fan jump’ further build on the confidence of the recruits,” says Lt Col Manish, who conducted the media around.
He said formalised motivation training sessions are also conducted wherein case studies on operations undertaken by the units are explained.
Who can become a paratrooper? Any serving soldier who is a volunteer and under 28 years of age (30 years in case of officers) and is in medically fit condition can apply to be a paratrooper.
The recruit will then undergo a probation-cum-selection-training of 90 days. During this training he is tested physically, mentally and emotionally.
“The physical tests besides the routine PT include basic tests of PPT (Physical Proficiency Test) and BPET (Battle Practice Efficiency Test) with superior standards and speed marches of 10, 20, 30 and 40 km with 23.5 kg of load,” says Lt Col Manish, a recipient of Sena Medal.
Post successful completion, the recruit has to undergo a Basic Parachute Descent course at Paratroopers’ Training School in Agra where he undergoes five combat static line jumps from a height of 1250 feet. Upon finishing this curriculum successfully, he becomes a paratrooper.
When asked what makes the paratroopers different from the rest of the forces, the young officer quoted from the legendary Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery of United Kingdom. @Mathrubhumi
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