Indian army women officers

For the first time, six Indian Army women officers began their training at Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare (CIJW) School at Mizoram-Assam border Vairengte town, an officer of the CIJW School said.The officer said that the six women officers of the Indian Army have commenced training in the Low Intensity Conflict Operations (LICO) course. This programme, renowned for its intensive regimen, marks a pivotal step in tactical training involving counter-insurgency and jungle warfare. The LICO course, being attended this year by officers from various friendly foreign countries including Bangladesh, Bhutan, France, Malaysia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, is a testament to the CIJWS’s international reputation.

Participants undergo rigorous training encompassing physical fitness, reflex firing, tactical strategies, and survival skills in difficult terrains, preparing them for real-world insurgent conditions where precision and stealth are paramount. The CIJW School is considered as one of the world’s finest Counter Terrorist Institutes. Though there are several army training schools in other parts of India, it is through the CIJW School in Mizoram that the world community has come to recognize the experience of the Indian Army in fighting insurgency and terrorism.The motto of this institute is to ‘Fight The Guerilla Like A Guerilla’. 

The idea to set up the Jungle Warfare School was conceived by former Indian Army Field Marshal SHFJ Manekshaw sometime in 1967, when the Indian soldiers suffered heavy casualties at the hands of northeastern rebels who were adept at hit-and-run guerilla strikes. The Army then was only trained in conventional warfare and this type of unconventional warfare by northeast rebels was unique in its kind.  Therefore, a need was felt to establish an institution, which could train the Indian soldiers in this unconventional warfare.Accordingly, in 1967, Lt. Col. (later Lt. Gen.) Mathew Thomas, established an adhoc Jungle Training School at Mynkre near Jowai (Shillong). The school was shifted to its present location, Vairengte and was re-designated as CIJW School on May 1, 1970.