How to Become a Garud Commando: Notification, Age Limit, Bharti, Open Rally, Uniform and Salary

Garud Commando is the special force unit belongs to Indian Air Force. This special force is responsible for the protection of critical Air Force bases and installations, hostilities and disaster relief during calamities, and search and rescue during peace. Check here all about Garud Commando, how to become a Garud Commando, when recruitment notification releases, age limit, bharti & open rally date, uniform and salary.

Garud is an Elite and the youngest Special Forces unit of the Indian Air Force which was formed in September 2004. Garud Commandos are trained in a way that they can handle any immediate arid situation without a prior notice. Whether it is war times or disaster scenario, armed forces are always there to tackle the situation and bring it back to the normal. Indian Army, Air Force and Navy, all of them have Special Forces to handle unexpected situation in the country. Indian Navy has got MARCOS, Army has PARA Special Forces and Indian Air Force has GARUD. These forces are the symbol of hardiness and therefore recognized as Special Forces. The serving personals are recruited and trained according to the requirements, which make them members of Special Forces unit.

How to Become a Gaud Commando?

Indian Air Force felt the requirement of a specialized force unit after a terror attack on two major air bases in Jammu and Kashmir in 2001. Garud Commandos are trained using Special Forces techniques so that they can handle critical and emergency situations. There are two major processes of selecting Garud Commando, non- commissioned posts are filled through airmen selection process and commissioned posts are filled through ground duty trainees of GDOC.

Commissioned Posts- Posts under this category are filled by ground duty cadets at Air force Academy Dundigal. For GDOC, AFCAT exam is there. These cadets are trained under special considerations and further appointed under GARUD unit.

Non-commissioned Posts– For posts under this category, the selection of Garud is direct through Airmen Section Centres. The recruitment news is released through notification/advertisement. Upon selection, you have to undergo a specialized training and acquire grade during training. If you do not perform well in the training, you will be out. Further, trainees are merged to the forces after completion of the training.

The initial phase of training is concluded at GARUD regiment training centre, Hindan and the next phase is executed by a special group comprising of members from the NSG, Army, Special Frontier force, and Paramilitary force. Trainees are also trained under parachute training school, jungle warfare school of Army and diving school of Navy. And, the final stage is to met the Special Forces unit of Army and from here your role starts to serve the nation. In total, Garud trainees have to undergo 72-week training

Age limit to become a Garud Commando

The upper age limit for Non-commissioned ranks is 23 year. There is no information available regarding upper age limit for officers however, for ground duty officers, it is 26 and ground duty officers are the officers who volunteer for Garud. So, there is a probability that 26 years is the maximum age limit for officers.

Garud Commando Uniform

Candidates selected as Garud airman wear the “Airman Beret Badge” on the cap. As they are also provided parachute training and hence you’ll see the para wings above the right pocket. You can see Garud Force Patch on the sleeve.

The Garud Commando Badge that used to be worn on the right pocket and it was alike NSG badge is no longer available. Instead, they wear Garud Winged Badge gold in colour on the left chest.

Initially, Garud Commando used to wear black beret which is now replaced by the maroon beret. You’ll find paratroopers brevet on the right chest, formation insignia on the left shoulder and “IAF GARUD” titles on the sleeves.

Area of Operation of a Garud Commando

List of essential tasks of a Garud Commando includes direct action, rescuing downed pilots in hostile territory, special reconnaissance, establishing airbases in hostile territory and offering air-traffic control to these airbases. They are also responsible for undertaking obliteration of other enemy resources like radars, suppression of enemy air defences, evaluating the ending of Indian airstrikes, and using laser designators to lead Indian airstrikes. Apart from these, critical assets of Defence Security are also safeguarded by the Garuds.

When we talk about airbase protection task it also comprises of rendering inaccessible weapons systems and other assets, when needed. The tasks performed by Garuds also include airborne assault, counter-terrorism, hostage rescue, anti-hijacking, and help civilian get of situations during calamities.

Salary of a Garud Commando

Salary of a Garud commando is almost similar to officers in Indian Air Force, Navy and Army based on their ranks. Along with the basic pay, they also receive additional allowances such as paratrooper allowance, military allowance, remote area allowance etc. For your reference, I am sharing here the Pay Scale of Officers in India Navy and the table is retrieved from the official website of Indian Navy, have a look.

RANK	LEVEL	PAY BAND (in Rs.)	MSP
SUB LIEUTENANT	10	56100-177500	15500
LIEUTENANT	10B	61300-193900	15500
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER	11	69400-207200	15500
COMMANDER	12A	121200-212400	15500
CAPTAIN	13	130600-215900	15500
COMMODORE	13A	139600-217600	15500
REAR ADMIRAL	14	144200-218200	NIL
VICE ADMIRAL	15	182200-224100	NIL
VICE ADMIRAL AND EQUIVALENT	16	205400-224400	NIL
DGAFMS	17	225000	NIL
VCNS / C-IN-C/ EQUIVALENT	17	225000	NIL
CNS / EQUIVALENT	18	250000	NIL

Indian Air Force Garud Commando Upcoming Bharti/Open Rally in 2023 and 2024

The official notification is released for the recruitment of Airmen in Security Trade. Candidates have to keep their close eyes on official website of Indian Air Force for the latest recruitment notification.

Further, candidates have to confirm the age criteria and other requirements before they apply for the recruitment/bharti/open rally in 2023 and 2024.

All details along with application process, eligibility criteria, selection process, important dates will be shared through the advertisement. Please read the advertisement carefully before you apply for the proposed posts.

Disclaimer: We have retrieved information from various official & non-official resources and are for reference purpose only. We do not guarantee its 100% accuracy, though we have tried our level best to provide only correct information in the post.

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