I will be the only army officer from my village when I get commissioned as an officer. I am proud about that. There are around 50 jawans from my
area, but in a radius of 30 kilometres, there are no officers.
It takes four days to travel to my village and another four to return. When I go home, many youngsters come to ask me how they can join the armed forces, the first thing they want to know is if I have any new pictures to show them. They want to see clippings, photos and know what my routine is.
I am also the Academy Cadet Captain and feel very honoured about it because I have heard that I am only the third cadet from the Northeast to hold this post.
Actually, my parents named me after Field Marshall Erwin Rommel (the most famous German commander in World War II). I would like to join the Gorkha Rifles or the Armoured Corps and I really want to serve
in the Northeast.
One day, I would also like to return to this Academy to serve as an officer because our training is such that an ex-NDA cadet is stamped. It is my third and final year at the Academy and I feel as if I came here just yesterday. Time passes very fast over here and I will be passing out on May 30 to join a year's training at the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun.
I have very high regard for the standards of the Indian armed forces. What happened at the Abu Garieb prison (in Iraq), how the American soldiers treated the prisoners -- that can never happen with us.
I want to be a dashing and sparkling officer, and want the people of Manipur to become more aware of the armed forces. Presently, they think everyone in the army is a jawan. I would like them to know and understand
what I will do as an officer one day.
If one wants to serve your country best -- then this is the way.
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