mohali: Army commander western command, Lt Gen Philip Campose, AVSM, VSM visited Maharaja Ranjit Singh Armed Forces Preparatory Institute in Mohali today. This was the Army Commanders first visit to the preparatory Institute after assuming command of the Western Army. On arrival, the Army Commander was introduced to the faculty and cadet appointments. He was briefed by the Director AFPI, Maj Gen BS Grewal about the various training activities being carried out at the Institute.

The Army Commander expressed his happiness at the good performance of cadets of the first course who have recently completed their training at the Institute. As many as seven cadets have already joined theNationalDefenceAcademyandIndianNavalAcademy. The Army Commander was happy with the training being carried out to motivate and educate the youth to join the armed forces and said that he was confident that in the years ahead the Institute would develop into a centre of excellence for pre commission training of young men fromPunjab. He assured that any assistance required from HQ Western Command would be readily forthcoming.

The Army Commander was shown the state of the art infra structure available at AFPI to include the Library, Auditorium, Indoor Shooting range, Gymnasium, Ante room and Cadets Mess. He also visited the Cadet’s cabins. Later during informal interaction with the cadets over tea the Army Commander exhorted the cadets to work hard and achieve their goal of joining the National Defence Academy and serve the mother land. A memento was presented to the Army Commander by the Director. Also present on the occasion were Brig KD Singh, Col HS Chauhan and Air Cmdr SK Sharma,PrincipalShemrockSrSecySchool.