Northern Command COS felicitates DCC 2025 participants

Udhampur, Sep 8: Chief of Staff (COS), Headquarter Northern Command Lieutenant General Vijay B Nair felicitated 32 pan India journalists of Defence Correspondents Course (DCC 2025) at Command Headquarters in Udhampur on Monday. The course was organised under the aegis of Directorate of Public Relations, Ministry of Defence.

The DCC 2025, under Lt Col Athul Sreedharan, PRO Tezpur, had gathered at Kochi on August 17, 2025. The participants of the course after undergoing the Navy module at Kochi (Kerala) and Air Force module at Bareilly (UP), reached Jammu on August 31, 2025.

“The Army leg commenced with a visit to Ratnuchak Military Station to get an insight of armoured equipment, training activities, obstacle crossing drills and also a tank ride to get a feeling of the war zone. Thereafter, they witnessed demonstration of artillery equipment by the Tiger Division,” PRO Defence Jammu Lt Col Suneel Bartwal said. The DCC journalists were given a chance to see the Anti Infiltration Obstacle System (AIOS) on the Line of Control (LC) in Poonch-Rajouri sector. They were taken to forward areas along the LoC in Nowshera and Bhimber Gali and were briefed about operations in the region.

“During their visit to Pinewood School, Hamirpur they interacted with the students and teachers. The course also visited the Corps Battle School, Sarol in order to witness the orientation training of soldiers, where they interacted with the Indian Army soldiers undergoing rigorous training,” Lt Col Bartwal said.

The visit of journalists to such remote locations helped them in understanding the hardships and the challenges faced by the troops of Indian Army and the people along the borders and in the hinterland in J&K, PRO Defence said.

During the valedictory ceremony, Lt Col Athul Sreedharan, PRO Tezpur and Nodal Officer presented the course report, nominated participants shared their experiences and Lt Gen Vijay B Nair awarded the course completion certificates to the participants and emphasised on positive and factual reporting on defence matters. In his address, the COS emphasised to the budding defence journalists on challenges and nuances involved in reporting on operational matters. The COS also stressed upon the role of journalists in nation building and added that the aim of the course was to get journalists from all over the country to give an overview of the functioning of the three services of the Armed Forces.