By Col Manoj Batra (Retd) · SSB faculty, The Cavalier · Senior GTO (retd), 20 SSB
An army has two halves. The arms fight: infantry, armour, artillery and the other combat and combat-support corps. The services keep those arms fed, armed, mobile, healthy, paid and lawful. Soldiers call it "the teeth and the tail", and a modern army cannot bite for long without the tail. Papers like to ask which service does which job, and the favourite trap is which corps supplies ammunition: it is the Army Ordnance Corps, not the Army Service Corps.
This page is the services half of the Indian Army section of our Defence GK library: the split between arms and services, one table of every service, a "who supplies what" guide, the medical services, the smaller corps, the Military Farms and the places where the lines blur. The fighting half is on the combat arms page.
Arms and Services: Where the Line Falls
The NIOS military studies text, which we follow, says the Army is organised in two parts, Combat Arms and Services. The combat arms are the Armoured Corps, Mechanised Infantry and Infantry, supported by the combat-support arms: Artillery, Corps of Engineers, Army Air Defence, Army Aviation and Corps of Signals. Everything else is a service, whose main task is to provide logistics: arms, ammunition, rations and the rest.
NIOS lists fourteen services. The table below gives thirteen of them (the Military Farms Service has its own section) and adds the Defence Security Corps, which the Army's own list carries. The Corps of Engineers and the Corps of Signals are arms, not services, though they also have "Corps" in the name.
The Military Farms Service is in the NIOS list but was closed in 2021 (see below). Some books call the Intelligence Corps a supporting arm; NIOS places it among the services. The Defence Security Corps is not in the NIOS list, though it is a corps of the Army. UPSC follows official sources, so the NIOS-style list is the safe answer.
A service is not a formation: a corps of three to four divisions under a Lieutenant General is a formation, the Army Service Corps is a service. The hierarchy page covers that "corps trap", and the corps page lists the formations.
The Services in One Table
A dash means we could not confirm the item from an official or established source, so we left it out.
| Service | What it does | Raised or lineage | Corps day | Centre or college |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army Service Corps (ASC) | Rations, fuel and transport | Began as the Commissariat of the three Presidency armies in 1760 (Army) | 8 Dec | Bengaluru (ASC Centre and College) |
| Army Ordnance Corps (AOC) | Ammunition, clothing, equipment and stores | Board of Ordnance, 8 April 1775 | 8 Apr | AOC Centre, Secunderabad |
| Corps of EME | Repair of weapons, vehicles and electronics | 1943 | 15 Oct | MCEME, Secunderabad |
| Army Medical Corps (AMC) | Medical care in peace and war | Raised 1764 (PIB) | 3 Apr | AMC Centre and College, Lucknow |
| Army Dental Corps (ADC) | Dental and oral health care | 1 February 1941 (PIB) | 1 Feb | — |
| Military Nursing Service (MNS) | Nursing officers in hospitals and the field | 1 October 1926 as the Indian Military Nursing Service (PIB) | 1 Oct | College of Nursing, Army Hospital (R&R), Delhi Cantonment |
| Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC) | Horses, mules and Army dogs | Stud Department, Bengal, 1779; separate RVC from 1960 (Army) | 14 Dec | Meerut |
| Army Education Corps (AEC) | Education and instruction of soldiers | Raised 1921; present corps from 1 Jun 1947 (Army) | 1 Jun | AEC Training College and Centre, Pachmarhi |
| Judge Advocate General's Department (JAG) | Military law; adviser to the Army chief | Traces its history to the Articles of War (PIB) | 21 Dec | — |
| Corps of Military Police (CMP) | Provost duties: policing, discipline, prisoners of war | — | — | CMP Centre and School, Bengaluru (PIB) |
| Pioneer Corps | Disciplined manpower for labour and logistics | Roots to 1758; Raising Day 25 Nov 1941 (Army) | 25 Nov | Bengaluru |
| Army Postal Service (APS) | Field post offices for troops' mail | A separate corps from 1 March 1972; first field post office 1856 | — | Kamptee, near Nagpur |
| Defence Security Corps (DSC) | Guards defence installations | 1947, as the Defence Department Constabulary (Army) | — | Kannur |
| Intelligence Corps | Military intelligence | Early 1940s; sources give 1940, 1941 and 1942 | — | Pune (training school and depot) |
The AMC is "raised 1764" in PIB's own release, but the Army's own history page dates the corps in its present form to 3 April 1943, when older medical bodies were merged. The Army's AEC page gives both 1921 (raised) and 1 June 1947 (the present corps). The Intelligence Corps has three candidate years. UPSC follows official figures, so for the AMC learn 1764, and for the others learn the corps and its job before the year.
Match the job word to the corps. Corps days sometimes sit on a significant date and not on a raising date: the JAG Department keeps 21 December because the Army Act Bill was laid in Parliament on 21 December 1949 (PIB). The defence days and dates page lists them in order.
Who Supplies What: The Ammunition Trap
Read the quartermaster's list as "need, then corps". Medical, legal, police and postal needs are in the table above.
| The Army needs | Service that provides it | Not to be confused with |
|---|---|---|
| Rations and fuel | ASC | AOC, which handles stores |
| Ammunition, clothing and equipment | AOC | ASC; the Ordnance Factory Board, which made it |
| Repair of tanks, guns, vehicles and radios | EME | AOC, which supplies the part |
| Mules, horses, dogs | RVC | The Armoured Corps, which replaced the cavalry |
"Which corps supplies ammunition to the Army?" is answered Army Ordnance Corps. The Army's own AOC page lists receipt, storage and issue of ammunition among the corps' functions, with proof, repair and disposal of munitions. The ASC feeds and carries rations and fuel, and the EME repairs weapons and vehicles. PIB shows the chain in February 2022: the first RFID-tagged ammunition went from Ammunition Factory Khadki to the Central Ammunition Depot, Pulgaon, a project steered by the Army's Ordnance Services Directorate. The factory makes; the Ordnance service holds and manages it.
The Ordnance Factory Board made weapons and was a different body altogether. Its production units became seven Defence Public Sector Undertakings on 1 October 2021 (PIB), among them Munitions India Limited and Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited. Our note on the OFB-to-seven-DPSU story explains the factory side.
PIB's 11 August 2023 release records millet flour, up to 25 per cent of atta and rice, sanctioned for personnel who draw rations through the Army Service Corps. For the fuel side, see our note on the Xtreme Weather Grade diesel.
Medical Services: AMC, ADC, MNS and the AFMS
The Army's three medical corps are the Army Medical Corps, the Army Dental Corps and the Military Nursing Service. PIB describes the MNS as an integral component of the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS), alongside the AMC and ADC. The AFMS is a tri-service body: the Directorate General of Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS) oversees medical support for the Army, Navy and Air Force, and recent PIB releases show the post going to a Navy officer in 2021 and an Air Force officer in 2026. The present DGAFMS is Air Mshl Sandeep Thareja. The tri-service agencies page covers the other joint bodies.
- AMC: motto "Sarve Santu Niramaya", meaning "let all be free from disease and disability"; Raising Day 3 April, the 260th marked in 2024 (PIB).
- ADC: raised on 1 February 1941 (PIB).
- MNS: an all-women officer corps. A permanent nursing service was raised on 1 October 1926 as the Indian Military Nursing Service, and a military ordinance of 15 September 1943 permanently established the MNS (PIB).
- AFMC, Pune: the AFMS medical college; its platinum jubilee year was 2023 (PIB).
The MNS is a corps of commissioned officers only, and its cadets are commissioned as Lieutenants after a four-year course at a College of Nursing (PIB). PIB gives the numbers for women in the medical cadres as of 1 July 2023: 3,841 in the MNS, 1,212 in the AMC and 168 in the ADC. Our note on the MNS commissioning of October 2026 has the longer story; for women in uniform generally, see women in the defence forces.
- 1 Oct 2025: the MNS marks its centenary in New Delhi, with a commemorative stamp and first day cover (PIB).
- 10 Feb 2026: the Ex-servicemen re-employment rules are amended to include the Military Nursing Service, extending ex-servicemen benefits to MNS officers (PIB).
- 30 Sep 2026: the centenary year closes at Manekshaw Centre, Delhi, with a commemorative coin (PIB).
- 14 Oct 2026: 29 nursing cadets of Batch IX are commissioned as Lieutenants into the MNS (PIB).
Animals, Law, Policing and Mail: The Smaller Services
The table gives the basics; these corps also have details examiners like.
- Remount and Veterinary Corps. Horses, mules and dogs. Mules carry loads to posts that vehicles cannot reach, and Army dogs support counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism work. PIB records that women officers were approved for induction into the RVC and the Artillery from March 2023.
- Judge Advocate General's Department. PIB describes the Judge Advocate General as legal adviser to the Chief of the Army Staff on military, martial and international law. It is a department, not a corps.
- Corps of Military Police. PIB records that the CMP Centre and School at Bengaluru attested the first batch of 83 women soldiers on 8 May 2021; enrolment of women began in 2019.
- Army Postal Service. In July 2023 PIB recorded the first permanent Aadhaar enrolment centre for the Army, at a base post office in New Delhi, with 48 locations identified through field post offices.
- Defence Security Corps. It guards defence installations and is controlled by Army Headquarters. It is not in the NIOS list.
Medical and nursing officers are commissioned out of the Armed Forces Medical College and the Colleges of Nursing, as PIB's reports show. Our career in the Indian Army page shows the routes, and the Army training establishments page lists the colleges.
Military Farms: From 1889 to 2021
PIB's 31 March 2021 release, "Indian Army Formally Closes Down Military Farms", records the history of this service.
| Item | What PIB records |
|---|---|
| First farm | Raised on 1 February 1889 at Allahabad, to supply hygienic cow's milk to troops in British India |
| Peak | 130 farms and 30,000 head of cattle after independence; farms were set up in Leh and Kargil in the late 1990s |
| Output | 3.5 crore litres of milk and 25,000 metric tonnes of hay a year |
| Credited with | Pioneering artificial insemination of cattle in India and organised dairying; "Project Freiswal", called the world's largest cattle cross-breeding programme |
| Closure | Formally closed on 31 March 2021, "after 132 years"; officers and workers were redeployed within the Ministry of Defence |
PIB records in July 2021 that the Shekatkar Committee of Experts, which reported in December 2016, recommended closing Military Farms and army postal establishments in peace locations; the Army's field post offices carry on.
Some notes say Military Farms closed in 2017. PIB gives no 2017 decision date: it records the Shekatkar recommendation (report of December 2016) and the formal closure on 31 March 2021. "132 years" and "1889 to 2021" go together.
Where the Lines Blur: MES, the Territorial Army and More
Two more bodies are easily mistaken for Army services; the tri-service AFMS and the Ordnance factories are covered above.
- Military Engineer Services (MES). The Army lists the MES as one of four constituents of its Corps of Engineers, a combat-support arm, yet it is not a service of the Army alone. PIB records that the officers of its Indian Defence Service of Engineers cadre, established on 17 September 1949, build and maintain accommodation, airfields, hangars, naval jetties and hospitals for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and DRDO. It serves all three services, so treat it as a joint organisation, not an Army service.
- Territorial Army. A volunteer reserve of the Indian Army, raised on 9 October 1949 by C Rajagopalachari, the first Governor General of independent India (PIB). Our Territorial Army page covers it; here it only needs placing correctly: a part-time reserve, not a service.
For the units that fight, see Army regiments and brigades and battalions; the tri-services and defence organisations pages cover the bodies above and beside the single services.
Exam pins
- The Army is arms plus services. Arms fight; services supply, repair, heal, police and mail.
- ASC provides rations, fuel and transport; Corps Day 8 December.
- AOC provides ammunition, clothing and stores: the answer to "which corps supplies ammunition"; Corps Day 8 April; lineage 1775.
- EME repairs and maintains weapons and equipment; Corps Day 15 October; formed 1943.
- AMC raised 1764, Raising Day 3 April; ADC raised 1 February 1941.
- MNS is an all-women officer corps, raised 1 October 1926; the AFMS is tri-service, with AFMC at Pune.
- RVC looks after horses, mules and dogs; Corps Day 14 December; lineage 1779.
- JAG is a department, not a corps; Corps Day 21 December.
- Military Farms: first farm 1 February 1889, Allahabad; closed 31 March 2021.
- The Ordnance Factory Board became seven DPSUs on 1 October 2021; it was never part of the Army Ordnance Corps.
Asked in past papers
Services questions are few and often hide inside questions on industry and institutions. Apply the "who does what" test.
Which one of the following manufacturers is engaged in upgradation of the Swedish 155-mm Bofors Howitzer under the project 'Dhanush'?
(a) Bharat Electronics Limited (b) Ordnance Factory Board (c) Bharat Dynamics Limited (d) Mishra Dhatu Nigam
Answer: (b). The Ordnance Factory Board made the gun. It was a manufacturer, not a corps of the Army, and its units have been seven companies since 1 October 2021. Do not link "ordnance" with the Army Ordnance Corps, which stores and issues what factories make.
The College of Military Engineering affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru University is situated at
(a) New Delhi (b) Dehradun (c) Nainital (d) Pune
Answer: (d). The College of Military Engineering is at Pune and trains the Corps of Engineers, a combat-support arm. Dehradun, home of the Indian Military Academy, is the distractor. The services have colleges of their own, such as MCEME at Secunderabad for the EME.
Which of the following are administered under the Ministry of Defence, Government of India? 1. Territorial Army 2. Hydrographic surveys and preparation of navigational charts 3. National Cadet Corps 4. All matters relating to Coast Guard Organization
(a) 1, 2, 3 and 4 (b) 1, 3 and 4 only (c) 2 and 4 only (d) 1 and 3 only
Answer: (a). All four fall under the Ministry of Defence. The Territorial Army is a reserve of the Indian Army; the NCC and Coast Guard are separate organisations under the same ministry. Candidates who learn the services as a closed list often forget these neighbours.
Practice MCQs (with answers)
- Which Army corps stocks ammunition and issues it to units?
- Army Service Corps
- Army Ordnance Corps
- Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers
- Corps of Military Police
- Which of the following is a department and not a corps?
- Army Medical Corps
- Army Dental Corps
- Pioneer Corps
- Judge Advocate General's Department
- Which statement about the Military Nursing Service is correct?
- It is an all-women officer corps
- It has JCOs and other ranks like an infantry battalion
- It belongs to the Navy alone
- It was raised in 1976
- The repair and maintenance of tanks, guns and radios in the field is the work of
- Army Ordnance Corps
- Army Service Corps
- Corps of EME
- Remount and Veterinary Corps
- The Military Farms, whose first farm was raised at Allahabad on 1 February 1889, were formally closed on
- 1 February 1947
- 26 January 1950
- 1 October 2021
- 31 March 2021
- Which corps breeds and trains the Army's mules and dogs?
- Remount and Veterinary Corps
- Army Service Corps
- Army Education Corps
- Pioneer Corps
1-b, 2-d, 3-a, 4-c, 5-d, 6-a. Q1 is the ammunition trap: the ASC feeds and carries, the EME repairs, the AOC stocks and issues. Q2: the JAG is a department. Q3: the MNS is all officers and all women. Q4: the AOC supplies the part, the EME fits it. Q5: 1 October 2021 is when the Ordnance Factory Board's units became seven companies; the farms closed on 31 March 2021. Q6: the RVC breeds and trains the animals.
Where to Go Next
Go next to the combat arms for the other half of the Army, then to special forces and military firsts for the women who opened these corps. The hierarchy page shows the ladder these services plug into, and Who's Who shows who holds each appointment. Study the NDA study material and the CDS and OTA study material. At the SSB a board may ask a candidate who wants the Army what its services do; our SSB coaching prepares you for that. For the GK paper, the CDS and OTA coaching at The Cavalier teaches defence awareness with the rest of the syllabus.
Frequently asked questions
Which corps supplies ammunition to the Indian Army?
The Army Ordnance Corps stocks ammunition and issues it to units, along with clothing, equipment and other stores. The Army Service Corps handles rations, fuel and transport, and the Corps of EME repairs weapons and vehicles. Ammunition is made by factories that were once the Ordnance Factory Board; its production units became seven companies on 1 October 2021.
What are the services of the Indian Army?
The NIOS military studies text lists fourteen: Army Service Corps, Army Medical Corps, Army Dental Corps, Army Ordnance Corps, Corps of EME, Remount and Veterinary Corps, Military Farms Service, Army Education Corps, Corps of Military Police, Pioneer Corps, Army Postal Service Corps, Intelligence Corps, Judge Advocate General's Department and Military Nursing Service. The Military Farms Service was closed in 2021.
What is the difference between arms and services in the Army?
Arms are the fighting troops: Armoured Corps, Mechanised Infantry and Infantry, supported by Artillery, Engineers, Air Defence, Aviation and Signals. Services provide the logistical backing: supplies, ammunition, repair, medical care, animals, education, law, policing and mail. Corps in the services, such as the Army Service Corps, are not the same as a corps formation of several divisions.
Is the Military Nursing Service part of the Army Medical Corps?
No. The Military Nursing Service is a separate all-women officer corps of the Indian Army. PIB describes it as an integral part of the Armed Forces Medical Services, alongside the Army Medical Corps and the Army Dental Corps. It was raised on 1 October 1926 as the Indian Military Nursing Service.
When were the Military Farms closed?
PIB records that the Indian Army formally closed its Military Farms on 31 March 2021, after 132 years of service. The first farm was raised at Allahabad on 1 February 1889, and the service peaked at 130 farms with 30,000 cattle. The Shekatkar Committee had recommended closing the farms in peace locations, and the officers and workers were redeployed within the Ministry of Defence.
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Sources: digital.nios.ac.in/content/374en/4.pdf · pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1708740 · pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1759965 · pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2017125
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