Arms and services of Indian Army are considered as important components. The various components of the army today are divided into arms or the fighting counter-part and the services. The fighting arms are known as the infantry, armoured corps, artillery, engineers and signals. The main administrative services are army service corps, medical, ordnance and the corps of electrical and mechanical engineers. All these components of Indian Army are mentioned below -
Artillery: The Royal Artillery of the country was re-assigned as Indian Artillery in the year 1935. Further, in that same year Indian officers were posted to a field regiment. Again in the year 1940, artillery units were hurriedly re- formed.
Army Medical Corps: Army Medical Corps came into existence on 3rd of April 1943. Very little is known of the medical organisations that existed in the various Armies in this country in the ancient times. However, Kautilya`s Arthashastra shows that during battles, physicians with surgical instruments used to stand behind the fighting men. Similarly, from Sushruta Samhita, it is seen that a physician fully equipped with medicines would live in a camp not remote from the royal pavilion and there the persons wounded by arrows and other war projectiles, or those who had imbibed poison used to be treated. A physician in the king`s service used to adopt certain measures to protect the life of his royal highness from secret poisoning. The physician well versed in technical sciences and with knowledge of other allied branches of study was held in high esteem by the King and others.
The history of the Indian Medical Service (IMS) dates back to 1612 when on the formation of the British East India Company into a joint stock business, the Company appointed John Woodall as their first Surgeon General. The company expanded activities in various part of the country which necessitated the formation and maintenance of regular bodies of troops in India. Until the First Word War the Indian Medical Service was pre-dominantly civil in character, but gradually from 1912 onwards those employed in civil duties became less and less in number. The idea of re-organising the medical services into a separate Medical Corps exclusively for the Defence Services was first conceived in 1939 with the out break of Second World War and with the formation of Indian Army Medical Corps in 1943, the extinction of the Indian Medical Service as such was merely a matter of time.
Army Service Corps: The Army Service Corps forms an integral part of the fine and proven weapon of war of the Indian Army. The corps constitutes that branch of the army which is the most intimately concerned with planning and execution of logistics support for the fighting formations.
Army Ordnance Corps: The main function of the Army Ordnance Corps include the procurement, manufacture, supply of clothing, equipment and all munitions of war. Army Ordnance Corps procures its wide range of stores mainly from ordnance factories and public sector undertakings. The corporate world is a strong partner of defence services in material support.
Corps of Signals: In keeping with the 21st century vision of the Corps of Signals `to achieve electronic and information superiority for effective functioning of the Indian Army`, the Corps has embarked upon a multidimensional and challenging task of establishing a converged, robust, broad band and secure IT infrastructure, at peace and operational locations of the Indian Army.
Engineers: Engineers formed a part of the early British Indian Armies in the form of sappers and miners and pioneers. Personnel of this corps are still called `sappers` though the units are known as Engineers. They help the army as a whole `to live, to move and to fight`.
National Cadet Corps, Infantry, Remounts and Veterinary Services and Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Army Postal Service, Corps of Military Police, Army Dental Corps, Army Education Corps, etc. are some other vital arms and services of Indian Army.
