A 22-year-old resident of Panchkula, Lieutenant Adhiraj Singh Sidhu, who passed out from the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, on Saturday, became the third generation officer from his family to pass out from the elite academy.

Sidhu is also the sixth generation officer from his family to join the army. He joins 21 Rajputs, a glorious and illustrious regiment of infantry. He said, “I am proud to continue the family tradition; joining the army was a dream for me.”

His father is a Colonel. His grandfather was a Brigadier, great grandfather a Major, great great grandfather a Captain from the famous 36 Sikh, now 4 Sikh. His grandfather, Brig Pritam Singh Sidhu, was a pass-out of the third IMA course; father Col Sarup Singh Sidhu was from the 79th IMA course; Lt Adhiraj Singh Sidhu passed out from the 147th IMA course. Sidhu is also the fourth person from his family to join the infantry.

As many as 392 cadets graduated from the IMA and the passing out parade was held on Saturday including 322 Indians and 70 from friendly foreign countries.

Mohali resident Lt Yashasavi Sharma, 23, was also among those who passed out from IMA on Saturday. Sharma, who is an ex-cadet of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Armed Forces Preparatory Institute, has been commissioned into the Armored Corps, third cavalry.