Territorial Army (India) - Honorary Officers

Honorary Officers

• Kapil Dev joined the Territorial Army on September 24, 2008 and was commissioned as an Hon. Lieutenant Colonel.
• Mohanlal joined Territorial Army as Hon. Lieutenant Colonel on 9 July 2009 - the army announced his appointment in December 2008.He is the first and only actor who have been conferred this title. His role in two films, Keerthichakra and Kurukshetra (2008 film), as an army member,led to his interest in the army and he voluntarily joined the Territorial Army.
• Deepak Rao was commissioned into the Para TA Regiment with the Hon. Rank of Major by the President of India on 1 Nov 2011 for his contribution of 17 years in modernization of Close Quarter Battle for the Indian Army. Rao, along with his spouse Dr . Seema Rao trained 15,000 soldiers over 17 years in Close Quarter Battle training and hence was cited to be Indias foremost pioneer and specialist in Close Quarter Warfare by the Indian Ministry of Defence. His method of Reflex shooting has been used to modernize combat shooting in Northern Command and eastern Command under directive of Army commanders. He serves as the Executive Director of the Unarmed & Commando Combat Academy and has also been appointed as Resource Person for imparting training in Close Quarter Battle by the Ministry of Home Affairs, India.
• Mahendra Singh Dhoni Para(TA) and Abhinav Bindra 124 SIKH(TA) were conferred the rank of (Hony) Lt Col for their contribution in the field of cricket and shooting respectively.
• Sachin Pilot, was inducted into the Territorial Army on September 6, 2012. He becomes the first Union Minister to be commissioned as a regular officer in the Territorial Army.