It will be a special moment for Sainik School, Kazhakkoottam, when Rear Admiral Ajit Kumar P takes over as second-in-command of Southern Naval Command (SNC), Kochi, on Saturday.
With his assuming office as Chief of Staff, SNC, the school can boast of five alumni currently holding key posts in the three services. Ajit Kumar, previously fleet commander with the eastern naval fleet, belongs to the 1977 batch (Roll No: 23) of the Sainik School, school officials said.
Majority of the alumni who, at present, are in senior positions in their respective services, belong to batches of the 1970s. For example, Lieutenant General C Ananthakrishnan, General Officer Commanding, 4 Corps, belongs to the 1972 batch (Roll No: 514), and Lieutenant General Y C Tharakan, Army HQ, was his senior by two years, leaving the school in 1970 (Roll No: 381).
The school’s third Old Boy in the Army belongs to the 1969 batch - Lieutenant General Chandraprakash (Roll No: 258), presently Commandant, Defence Services Staff College, Wellington.
In the Air Force too, the 51-year-old school has alumni in the top rungs: Air Vice Marshal I P Vipin, who is Senior Directing Staff, National Defence College, New Delhi. Vipin (Roll No: 877) belongs to the 1978 batch.
‘’The school has produced lieutenant generals and air marshals, many of whom are now retired. The senior, serving officers often interact with our cadets, which makes a lot of difference. It makes the children feel that one day they too can become like them,’’ said school principal Group Captain B Janardhanan.
The Sainik School, Kazhakkoottam, was established in 1962 to cater to the needs of the armed forces. Since then, the school has produced hundreds of officers for the Army, Navy and Air Force. Several alumni - like Lieutenant Radha Mohan Naresh, Colonel N J Nair and Captain R Harshan - have made the supreme sacrifice for the nation in wars and encounters with terrorists and insurgents.