On Friday, 17 officers from ten friendly foreign nations passed out on the completion of their course in 'Long Gunnery' at INS Dronacharya, Fort Kochi.
The officers from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Mauritius had a ‘Passing out Parade’ reviewed by the Commanding Officer, Commodore Sunil Kumar Roy.
The aim of the Long Gunnery (Foreign) Course is to enable officers to carry out the duties of a specialist gunnery officer, whether it be of a frigate, a capital ship, an air station or a squadron.
The Admiral R.D. Katari Trophy for the best overall trainee as well as a book prize for standing first in the overall order of merit were awarded to Lieutenant Commander J.K. Bentil from Ghana. A book prize was also awarded to Lieutenant Harez E.B. Hussain from Malaysia and to Lieutenant W.N. Asela from Sri Lanka for standing second and third respectively in the overall order of merit.
The course is funded by the Indian government and is conducted under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) scheme, for the training year 2019-20 that commenced on April 22. The seven-and-a-half-month curriculum included a scientific orientation phase, a basic phase, a guided weapon introductory capsule and an equipment phase consisting of weapon & sensor systems and war gaming.
The officers passing out from INS Dronacharya would be joining their respective Navies’ warships as specialist Gunnery Officers.
The Long Gunnery (Foreign) course is an annual course conducted at INS Dronacharya, the Centre of Excellence for Gunnery and Missile Warfare, to foster capacity building and bolster our defence cooperation with friendly foreign nations.
