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Indian Army Module - IV

Armed Forces Today
ROLE OF THE INDIAN ARMY
 Guard our Borders - Protect nation against invaders

 Protect civilians and government from insurgents
 Assist Civil administration during natural calamity and disasters

Note
13.2.1 Tasks of Indian Army

Role of army can be explained as to what actions they are expected to perform. These
tasks are: -

 Fighting a war to meet external aggression.
 Internal security duty against internal threats.
 Force projection, taking part in army exercises with troops of friendly foreign
countries etc.

 Peace keeping operations and military assistance to friendly foreign
countries. Our Army is deployed in UN missions in Somalia, Congo etc.
 Render humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and aid to civil authorities.

Activity 13.3

Take a world map and mark the countries where Indian Army has sent its troops for
UN Missions. You can see the Internet to get the answers.

13.3 Composition and Organisational Structure

The modern battlefield is complex and vast. The terrain and the geographical reach
within which the Indian Army is required to operate, calls for a complex system. The
army is made up of bodies of troops of varying strength (numbers). These troops are
skilled and equipped for many different types of tasks. Some of these troops are from
fighting arms, while others are from supporting arms and services. Thus, when a force
is assembled, it comprises of troops of various types.

The structure and organization of the army is to be understood in terms of the arms
and services. Force sizes from the lowest upwards are generally called the section (10
men), platoon (36 men), company, battalion, brigade, division, corps and commands.
Sometimes, these are also known by some other names, which came from traditional
origins, such as a battery or squadron (equal to a company), a regiment (equal to a
battaliong), troop (equal to a platoon) and detachment (equal to a section). Regiments
having Guns include troop and battery, and those with tanks have troop and squadrons.

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MILITARY HISTORY 5