On Road Towards Theatre Commands: After Major And Lieutenant Colonels, Senior Officers Of Major Gen, Brigadier Ranks To Get Cross-Service Posting

The Indian Armed Forces are planning to implement cross-services postings of senior officers in the ranks of Brigadier and Major General and equivalent, reported the Indian Express.

This move is in line with efforts towards tri-service integration and the creation of theatre commands.

Recently, a batch of around 40 officers of the rank of Major and Lieutenant Colonel and equivalent were announced for inter-service postings. This is a first, and earlier, only a few such postings had taken place within the services.

These officers would be transferred to missile units, for handling UAVs, and for logistics, repair and recovery and material and supplies management, among other roles in the two other services.

An officer said, “Around 25 one- and two-star officers (Brigadier and Major General equivalent) will go for inter-service postings in the next few months.”

Previously, senior military officers were assigned to tri-service organisations, but inter-service postings were not typically carried out.
The decision to cross-post officers aligns with the objective of integrating the three services and establishing theatre commands.

The plan is to create two adversary-based theatre commands, one for Pakistan and the other for China, as well as a third command to address threats in the maritime domain. Currently, there are 17 military commands specific to each service.

The recent move to implement common Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) for two and three-star officers is also a step towards facilitating cross-services postings. Common ACRs for senior military officers will aid in creating jointness and integration among the three services.

According to insiders, inter-service batch parity will be the primary factor governing the cross-service postings of senior officers.

An official revealed that junior officers sometimes get promoted faster and hold higher positions than their senior colleagues during commissioning.

“At times, officers junior to their colleagues during commissioning get promoted faster and hold higher appointments, while their senior colleagues await their promotions,” the official said.

The official added that the goal is to establish commonality among the three services to enhance synergy and recommend officers for higher tri-service command and staff appointments.

Currently, the appraisal system in the three services varies, with the Army having a higher tendency for grading than the other two services, according to officials.

Another official explained that the confidential reports are balanced out by service-specific boards, which consider officers for promotion boards with colleagues who have similar responsibilities.

“Once the cross-staffing move is implemented and institutionalised, the ACRs of officers in such appointments would need to be standardised and the decision to have a common ACRs for the senior officers is a step in this direction,” the official added.