NEW DELHI: The Army Educational Corps (AEC) will now be rechristened the Army Knowledge & Enablers Corps with the mandate to specially focus on cyber, infotech, perception management and linguistics, including specialisation in Mandarin, Burmese and other languages, as part of the overall “transformation” drive under way in the 12-lakh strong force.
The restructuring of the AEC, which has been approved by the defence ministry, will provide the Army with “dedicated specialists” in these niche domains to exploit their potential in meeting “emerging operational needs”, senior officers told TOI on Sunday.
The thrust on linguistics comes at a time when the Army has already been taking some steps to address “capability voids” in Mandarin proficiency and sector specialisations on Chinese issues and Tibetology, amid the ongoing four-year military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh, as earlier reported by TOI.
With China now the primary front, which has seen the Army “rebalance” additional forces and firepower to the northern borders from the western front with Pakistan, there is certainly an urgent need to boost expertise in Chinese language, culture, behaviour and thought at the tactical, operational and strategic levels.
“Restructuring and reorientation of AEC, which was raised in 1921, will propel the ongoing efforts. A framework has been instituted to ensure availability of the requisite pool of trained linguists. In addition to the in-service linguist school, engagements are being carried out with reputed universities across the nation to conduct advanced linguistic training,” an officer said.
Only 21% of AEC personnel will now be engaged in the conventional human resource development efforts, with the rest being deployed in the newly-identified domains.
“Since the AEC is mandated to recruit only graduates and above, this restructuring provides an opportunity to directly recruit professionals with these skills. Fresh guidelines have been formulated for recruiting and commissioning professionals with these skills,” another officer said.
“Fresh commissioning of postgraduates as officers to handle such niche domains, and recruitment of graduates and postgraduates in the specified subjects as direct entry Havildars, is going to commence shortly,” he added.
With China’s extensive cyber-warfare and cyber-espionage capabilities also posing a major threat, the Army is already training existing manpower in this arena, with a three-pronged approach of “re-orientation, re-skilling and on-the-job training”.
Re-skilling is being carried out both within the Army as well as in conjunction with the National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology. “Re-skilled manpower in cyber and information operations are being posted to various Army establishments and units,” the officer said.
The AEC restructuring is only one of the wide array of initiatives being undertaken by the Army as part of the transformation drive to bolster overall combat capabilities to effectively deal with future security challenges.
The five identified pillars of transformation are force restructuring and optimisation; modernisation and technology infusion; improving systems and processes to improve combat and functional efficiencies; ensuring jointness and integration; and better human resources management.
The restructuring of the AEC, which has been approved by the defence ministry, will provide the Army with “dedicated specialists” in these niche domains to exploit their potential in meeting “emerging operational needs”, senior officers told TOI on Sunday.
The thrust on linguistics comes at a time when the Army has already been taking some steps to address “capability voids” in Mandarin proficiency and sector specialisations on Chinese issues and Tibetology, amid the ongoing four-year military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh, as earlier reported by TOI.
With China now the primary front, which has seen the Army “rebalance” additional forces and firepower to the northern borders from the western front with Pakistan, there is certainly an urgent need to boost expertise in Chinese language, culture, behaviour and thought at the tactical, operational and strategic levels.
“Restructuring and reorientation of AEC, which was raised in 1921, will propel the ongoing efforts. A framework has been instituted to ensure availability of the requisite pool of trained linguists. In addition to the in-service linguist school, engagements are being carried out with reputed universities across the nation to conduct advanced linguistic training,” an officer said.
Only 21% of AEC personnel will now be engaged in the conventional human resource development efforts, with the rest being deployed in the newly-identified domains.
“Since the AEC is mandated to recruit only graduates and above, this restructuring provides an opportunity to directly recruit professionals with these skills. Fresh guidelines have been formulated for recruiting and commissioning professionals with these skills,” another officer said.
“Fresh commissioning of postgraduates as officers to handle such niche domains, and recruitment of graduates and postgraduates in the specified subjects as direct entry Havildars, is going to commence shortly,” he added.
With China’s extensive cyber-warfare and cyber-espionage capabilities also posing a major threat, the Army is already training existing manpower in this arena, with a three-pronged approach of “re-orientation, re-skilling and on-the-job training”.
Re-skilling is being carried out both within the Army as well as in conjunction with the National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology. “Re-skilled manpower in cyber and information operations are being posted to various Army establishments and units,” the officer said.
The AEC restructuring is only one of the wide array of initiatives being undertaken by the Army as part of the transformation drive to bolster overall combat capabilities to effectively deal with future security challenges.
The five identified pillars of transformation are force restructuring and optimisation; modernisation and technology infusion; improving systems and processes to improve combat and functional efficiencies; ensuring jointness and integration; and better human resources management.
