Naga Regiment 

The Naga Regiment was the first infantry regiment to be raised in the post-Independence India. In 1957, when the Naga hills area was simmering with insurgency, a convention of the Naga people took place and it came out with a charter of demands including statehood for Nagaland and a separate entity for the Naga people in the Indian defence forces. Nagaland attained its statehood in 1963 and the Naga Regiment was formed seven years later. Nevertheless, a remarkable fact about its raising was that several ex-militants were given a fair chance to prove their newfound nationalism and made to join the Indian Armed Forces.

But even before their training could be completed and the recruits were administered oath, trouble began brewing on the eastern border. Bypassing the training schedule, the Naga Regiment was ordered to move into the concentration areas. And thus the youngest regiment of the Indian Army was pushed into the war with scanty preparedness. Still it held the Tri-colour aloft, it should be attributed jointly to the natural instincts of the Naga warriors and to the inherent valour of Kumaunis, Garhwalis and Gorkhas, the other hill tribes to be drawn into the Naga Regiment.

The remarkable achievement of the Naga Regiment laid the way for raising of the second Naga battalion. Subsequently, the second Naga battalion was inducted into Keran sector of Kupwara district, where it was responsible for ensuring the sanctity of approximately 24 kilometres of Line of Control (LoC) and also to counter anti-national elements and their operations. It was in this sector the second Naga battalion participated in one of the landmark operations - Operation Romeo. The goal of this operation was to dominate the LoC, which was wrongly occupied by the enemy. The entire operation was carried out with clockwork precision and without any casualties to our troops. This was the first proactive operation in the divisional sector and has been a trend-setter.

Over the years, the Naga Regiment has carved out a niche for itself against insurgency operations. The Chief of Army Staff made a special instant award of "Unit Citation" to 2nd Battalion, The Naga Regiment for their meritorious and gallant performance during the battles of Twin Bump on night 07/08 July and raid on enemy mortar position North West of Point 4875 on 08 July 1999, in Dras Sector. It has to its credit two unit citations and one GOC-in-C Northern Command's appreciation. Besides, the unit has the honour of having 46 individual awards that include one Maha Vir Chakra and two Vir Chakra

The traditional Naga weapons viz the Dah, the Spear and the prestigious Mithun have been integrated into the Regimental Crest. The Regiment's colours are Gold, Green and Red, the gold of the rising sun, the green of Infantry and red the colour of authority among Nagas. 1 Naga was presented with Colours on 06 May 1978 at Dehradun by Shri Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, the President of India and 2 Naga was presented with Colours on 10 May 1990 by General V.N. Sharma, PVSM, ADC, the Chief of Army Staff.

The Battalions:

• 1st Battalion
• 2nd Battalion
• 3rd Battalion (?)