The 101 Area headquarters will begin celebrations of its 60th raising day with a motorcycle rally on Sunday.
The 101 Area was raised on April 22, 1963 in the wake of the Sino-Indian War of 1962 to cater for logistics support for the fighting formations across the North East.
Official celebrations of the anniversary will be held on April 24 this year.
The formation has the unique distinction of having participated in active combat with the crowning glory being the 1971 operations where it was the first of the Indian forces to enter Dhaka.
To kickstart the celebrations, a ‘Rhino Riders’ Diamond Jubilee Motorcycle Rally will be flagged off by Meghalaya Governor Phagu Chauhan on Sunday from Rhino Training Complex, Shillong.
The 10 riders will cover treacherous and challenging terrain and overcome gruelling weather. Over a span of 14 days, the riders will cover more than 2,000km spanning Meghalaya, Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
They will reach out to veterans and war widows as well as to school children, NCC cadets and other youth as a motivation to join the Indian Army. They will also reach out to the civil administration along the route to forge strong relations for the future.