The oceans are gaining new found importance as each day goes by. With land-bound resources fast depleting, oceans hold the potential to meet mankind’s future needs of food, energy and minerals. With oceanic research and exploration technology expanding rapidly, nations are scrambling to safeguard their ocean resources. India has a 7500 km coastline and over 2 million sq kms of exclusive economic zone (EEZ). With this and with her large number of island territories India has to maintain a strong Navy which is always in a state of preparedness during peace and war. To retain this dominant position and to cope with our ever expanding responsibilities at sea, planned growth of the Navy is continuing.
Navy consists of a nation’s combat fleet, its supporting ships, their personnel, the training establishments and the land bases. Most maritime nations with large naval fleets have an air branch of their own. The fleet consists of patrol boats, torpedo crafts which patrol and safe guard coastal regions.
Warships as aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, frigates and submarines operate in deep seas. Support ships, also known as auxiliary ships, provide them with fuel, rations, armament repair facilities and various other services ; thus they greatly extend the navy’s range of operations. With its growing responsibilities, it is but natural that the Navy should receive special attention. It is already the strongest in the Indian Ocean and the 7th largest Navy in the world. The Indian Navy today is a well-balanced, cohesive and effective three dimensional service, capable of operating above, on and under the surface of the oceans and safeguarding our national interests.
Of all the diverse elements that go into the making up of an effective Navy, no single factor is as important as the men who are in it. Despite the latest
equipment the single most important factor even today is the officer who will ultimately meet the challenge at sea. For the Navy to be efficient, it requires well trained manpower.
Nature of Work
The Navy has a role to protect and safeguard the country’s exclusive economic zone, the ocean resources from exploitation by other countries and protect the coasts from any invasion, control the sea in war time to ensure safe passage of our own ships and deny passage to the enemy ships, escort friendly merchant ships, attack enemy ships and submarines and defend offshore
installations. During invasion, navy attacks enemy coastal defences, fires on onshore targets by cruisers and destroyers or bombards them through aircraft carriers based fighter bombers.
Amphibious ships launch invasion through sea. Thus the main role of Navy is its own coastal defence, control of sea and coastal attack and invasion of enemy territory. The life of a Naval Officer is a happy mix of many things : hard work, professionalism, risk and adventure and the opportunity to move around and visit different places within India and abroad meeting a variety of people. There is the satisfaction of being at the vanguard of the nation’s defence. A Navy officer holds a key position at sea on an operational ship or submarine, flying airplanes, an integral part of a ship, onshore establishments coordinating the activity of the fleet, providing training or manning technical support and back up facilities.
Executive branch
This is the Operational Branch of the Navy. Command of ships at sea can only be exercised by officers of the Executive Branch. There are numerous opportunities in any of the three arms of the branch: (a) General Service ; (b) Aviation Arm and (c) Submarine Arm
General Service
Executive Officers are both ‘working’ and ‘fighting’ during war from the ship. They are a vital part of the complex system that manages the ship and also uses the ship as an instrument of tactical warfare. Executive officers learn to have a good understanding of the ship’s capabilities and limitations and can turn them to their advantage. It is for this reason that an Executive Officer alone can aspire to command a naval ship.
The Executive Officers specialize in:
-- Gunnery and missiles
-- Navigation and direction
-- Torpedo and anti-submarine warfare
-- Communications
-- Logistic management
-- Hydrography
-- Armament inspection
Within the branch promotional changes are not affected by choice of sub-specialisation, for instance the Commanding Officer of a frigate, could have been a pilot and that of a guided missile frigate, a submarine sub-specialist.
Logistics officer - A modern warship is a complex fighting unit, but it is also a mini township, a community of several hundred people who have to be fed, clothed and paid. Whatever the ship’s role and wherever it may be, it has also to be constantly supplied with fuel, water and spares for the vast array of sophisticated equipment and machinery. At sea or on shore the Logistics Officer has a vital part to play in the technical & human aspects of the ship’s organisation. It is a job that requires exceptional managerial skills and the ability to work under pressure.
Hydrographic survey - This small but crucial sub specialisation is responsible for collecting information needed for the charts used by the Indian Navy and other Navies around the world. You have the option to remain a Surveyor throughout your career for the sheer love of it, or for other shore based appointments.
Naval armament inspection officer - These specialist officers inspect the armaments supplied to the Navy by various agencies . While they ensure the quality, safety and reliability of naval armament and stores, they are also responsible for in-house research and development leading to indigenisation.
Aviation
For those with a yearning for the skies the Navy needs pilots and observers who act as airborne tactical coordinators of maritime warfare. While most navy pilots fly shipborne helicopters and shore based maritime reconnaissance aircraft, some fly the V/STOL Sea Harrier. Naval aircrafts
locate and attack enemy surface ships and submarines and take part in amphibious warfare, search and rescue, casualty evacuation, etc. For this specialised training is imparted at Goa and Kochi.
Submarines
Those who enjoy the challenge of new frontiers, meet the medical standards and have an exceptional record, can join submarines. These new hi-tech war machines have awesome firepower, state-of-the-art weapon control systems, computer controlled machinery and have a very high standard of habitability. One major responsibility of the submarines in peace time is to train for war as effectively as possible in the knowledge that this will contribute to its prevention. Training is conducted at Vishakhapatnam and on completion, Dolphin badge is given to members of this very elite arm of the Navy.
Technical branch
Modern ships, submarines and air crafts abound with advanced technology/ machinery for steam, diesel, gas turbines or combination of these. The Engineering Branch is responsible for keeping all these equipment serviceable. There are opportunities to work in shore jobs in naval dockyards, laboratories and indigenous production units.
Navy employs engineers of various disciplines, who are trained further at the Naval College of Engineering at Lonavala near Pune and Electrical Training Establishment at Jamnagar. The career is interspread with technical training courses up to post-graduation level in India and possibly abroad.
Engineering (naval architect) - These officers specialise in warship construction. The Indian Navy today employs the largest pool of trained Naval Architects in India. Naval Architects are involved in design, construction, quality control, repair and new construction work of naval vessels. With the Navy going for more and more sophisticated warship production within the country itself, the Corps of Naval Architects offers opportunities to keep abreast of high technology in ocean engineering.
Electrical branch
A warship is a floating mini-city and has its own power generation and distribution system. In addition, complex weapon systems, missile systems, underwater weapons, radars and radio communication equipment form a major part of a warship’s equipment. A majority of these are either computer-based or computer-aided and incorporate the latest trends in electronics and microwave engineering. An Electrical Officer deals with computer based or computer-aided weapon systems, missile systems, underwater weapons, radars and raid communication equipment. For a ship to be able to fight effectively, all this equipment must be kept working at peak efficiency. Electrical Officers have excellent opportunities to do post-graduate courses in India and abroad.
Education branch
Just as the Navy is constantly updating its technology, the technical education of its officers and men must also keep pace to be an optimally effective force. Any service will be as good as the training its officers and men receive. Education Officers play a very major role in the total training of a Naval Officer/Sailor. They are responsible for scientific and methodical instructions including theoretical aspects of technical subjects of all branches of the Navy and for general education, both ashore and afloat. They can additionally specialise in Oceanography and Meteorology and also in any of the specialisations of the General Service, Executive Branch.
Law officers
A separate cadre of Law Officers deal with the legal needs of the Navy. Law officers advise on evidence in court martial and other disciplinary actions and give legal advice to naval staff in various civil matters.
