Passing out is the completion of a course by military or other service personnel or the graduation from a college, largely in

Commonwealth nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

. Soldiers sometimes take part in a passing out

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

upon completion of a

basic training Military recruit training, commonly known as basic training or boot camp, refers to the initial instruction of new military personnel. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process, which resocializes its subjects for the unique deman ...

course. The

military parade A military parade is a formation of soldiers whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as drilling or marching. The military parade is now almost entirely ceremonial, though soldiers from time immemorial up until the lat ...

during the ''passing out'' also consists of

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the tit ...

s and other displays of synchronization discipline such as acrobatics. Trenchard inspects apprentices at RAF Halton

Passing Out Parade, RAF Halton - geograph

Name

The parade may also be referred to as a 'Marching out' parade as it is at the

Army Recruit Training Centre Army Recruit Training Centre (ARTC) is the official name given to the Australian Army's basic training establishment since 1 December 1998. Situated at Kapooka, an outer suburb of Wagga Wagga, in the Riverina region of New South Wales, the Army ...

Kapooka Kapooka is a suburb in the south-west of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. Kapooka is home to the Department of Defence's Blamey Barracks from where the Army Recruit Training Centre conducts its operations. It is located on the Olympic ...

in Australia. It is also known as "Pass off" parade as in the case of the Royal Army Physical Training Corps and Passing out "Ceremony" in the case of

Warsash Maritime Academy Warsash Maritime School, formerly Warsash Maritime Centre and Warsash Maritime Academy, is a maritime training college that is part of Solent University. The college provides education, training, consultancy and research to the international sh ...

. It is also known as "Sovereign's Parade" at

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...

. Since 1964, the

Fire and Rescue NSW Fire and Rescue New South Wales (previously known as New South Wales Fire Brigades), an agency of the Government of New South Wales, Australia, is responsible for firefighting, rescue and HazMat services in the major cities, metropolitan areas ...

conducts a passing out parade on course completion.

Reviewing officer and guests

A "reviewing officer", usually a senior officer, reviews the parade and hands out medals to cadets who have excelled. Militaries around the world usually allow civilian guests including parents, to attend the passing out parade. Dignitaries may also be present as was the case at

in 2010 when the British Prime Minister

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

was present to witness the event. Other dignitaries at the event included relatives of graduating cadets such the

President of Yemen The president of the Republic of Yemen is the head of state of Yemen. Under the Constitution of Yemen, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and head of the executive branch of the Yemeni government. As of 7 April 202 ...

and the

Prime Minister of Bahrain In Bahrain, the Prime Minister is the head of government of the country. According to the Constitution of Bahrain, the Prime Minister is appointed directly by the King of Bahrain, King, and needs not to be an elected member of the Council of Rep ...

. The chief guest at the military passing out parade of Napuka Secondary School, Cakaudrove, in August 2019 was the senior most female officer of the military forces of the Republic of Fiji. In 2019, Vice President Mike Pence spoke at the graduation ceremony at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

. In 2019, the reviewing officer for the 136th Passing out Parade (POP) at the Indian Military Academy (IMA) was Lieutenant General

Cherish Mathson Lieutenant General Cherish Mathson, PVSM, SM, VSM is a retired officer of the Indian Army who served as General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), South Western Command. He assumed office on 1 August 2017 taking over from Lt General Ab ...

. Having such senior officers present is a morale booster for the cadets. During the passing out parade, a dignitary may also make a speech, as was the case during the passing out parade in IMA in 2007, when Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...

addressed the cadets and guests.

Traditions

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

The passing out at

, known as the Sovereign's Parade, is conducted three times a year. One of the main ceremonies during the parade is

Trooping the Colour Trooping the Colour is a ceremony performed every year in London, United Kingdom, by regiments of the British Army. Similar events are held in other countries of the Commonwealth. Trooping the Colour has been a tradition of British infantry regi ...

. Various awards and honours are presented to cadets who have excelled. This includes the Queen's Medal, the Overseas Sword and the MacRobert Sword.

Sword of Honour

The passing out can also consist of traditions such as presentation of a "Sword of Honour" as in the case of Sandhurst and

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

and Pakistan military academies. In 2010 for the first time in the history of the Officers Training Academy, India, a female cadet,

Divya Ajith Kumar Captain Divya Ajith Kumar is an Army Air Defense (AAD) officer in the Indian Army. She graduated from the Officers Training Academy, Chennai. Kumar is the first woman to be conferred by the Army with the Sword of Honour, a prize given to the be ...

, was presented the sword of honour.

Shipping of stripes

Another tradition that happens during the ''passing out'' is the "Shipping-of-Stripes" as in the case of the

Indian Naval Academy The Indian Naval Academy (INA or INA Ezhimala) is the defence service training establishment for officer cadre of the Indian Naval Service and the Indian Coast Guard, located in Ezhimala, Kannur district, Kerala. Situated between Ezhimala h ...

. During this ceremony, senior officers and the relatives of the passing out cadets ''ship'' the

epaulette Epaulette (; also spelled epaulet) is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of military rank, rank by armed forces and other organizations. Flexible metal epaulettes (usually made from brass) are referred to as ''sh ...

s (commonly known as "''Stripes''") on the uniform. This represents the graduation of the cadets into officers.

Music

A common song that is played during the passing out, especially in

Commonwealth countries The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of 56 sovereign states. Most of them were British colonies or dependencies of those colonies. No one government in the Commonwealth exercises power over the others, as is the case in a po ...

, is Auld Lang Syne, a

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

poem. The

during the ''passing out'' also consists of

s. At the Indian Military Academy, before the cadets begin the passing out parade ceremony, the band plays a melody (''

aarti ''Arti'' (Sanskrit: Ārātrika, Hindi: Ārtī) is a Hindu ritual employed in worship, often part of '' puja'', in which light (usually from a flame) is offered to one or more deities. ''Arti(s)'' also refers to the songs sung in praise of the d ...

'')'','' allowing the cadets to pray to their respective god.

Hat toss

The first recorded hat toss in the United States was in 1946 at

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

. After the hat toss, children are allowed to take one hat each. Cadets fill the hats with notes, snapshots, and even money for the children. At some places such as the Indian Military Academy ''flinging-of-cap'' has been stopped. The tradition of ''cap-flinging'' during the passing out parade has a long past; the tradition starting well before India's Independence from British rule. It was stopped in 2010 as some people found it disrespectful for the caps to touch the ground.

Other

Other traditions include the

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

leading the parade to crack a joke to lighten the atmosphere, as in the case of the Indian Military Academy passing out parade. At the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, the parade finale includes the adjutant riding up the steps of the Old College (the origin of this tradition is unknown). At the Indian Military Academy, the finale is the ''antim path'' (final step), where cadets take the last step into

Chetwode Chetwode is a village and civil parish about southwest of Buckingham in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire. The parish is bounded to the southwest and southeast by a brook called The Birne, which here also forms part of the county b ...

Hall.

Popular culture

The passing out parade is depicted in the 1980s book "''The Passing-out Parade: A Play"'' by British writer

Anne Valery Anne Valery ( Firth) (24 February 1926 – 29 April 2013) was an English screenwriter, author and actress noted for co-writing episodes for the BAFTA-nominated drama ''Tenko'' in the early 1980s. The daughter of actress Doriel Paget, she join ...

. In the 2004

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

movie Lakshya, Hritik Roshan, upon completing his course at the

Indian Military Academy The Indian Military Academy (IMA) is one of the oldest military academies in India, and trains officers for the Indian Army. Located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, it was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up ...

, takes part in a passing out parade.

Passing out around the world

File:Passing Out Ceremony (12240309973).jpg, Passing out,

Irish Defence Forces The Defence Forces ( ga, Fórsaí Cosanta, officially styled ) derives its origins from the Irish Volunteers. Whilst the Irish for ''Defence Forces'' is , as Ó Cearúil (1999) points out, the Defence Forces are officially styled . is used in ...

File:Kakul Passingoutprade Oweis.JPG, A passing out parade at

Pakistan Military Academy Pakistan Military Academy ( ur, ), also referred to by its acronym PMA. PMA is an officers training school located near Kakul village in the city and district of Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa established in 1947. It is the sole service academy ...

, Kakul. File:Naval service passing out (12394426943).jpg, Naval service passing out, Ireland File:NDA Passing Out Parade-6.jpg, Passing out Parade,

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services i.e. the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force train together before they go on ...

, India File:Passing Out Parred SVPNPA 2.JPG, Passing out Parade at

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) is the civil service training institution in India. The institute trains Indian Police Service (IPS) officers before they are sent to their respective state cadres to carry out their dut ...

, India File:SNA PASS-OUT CEREMONY-5 (16455857333).jpg, Soldiers of the

Somali Armed Forces The Somali Armed Forces are the military forces of the Federal Republic of Somalia. Headed by the president as commander-in-chief, they are constitutionally mandated to ensure the nation's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. Ch ...

during their passing out. File:The Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral D.K. Joshi reviewing the Guard of Honour during Passing-out parade, at INA, Ezhimala on November 23, 2013.jpg, The Chief of Naval Staff reviewing the Guard of Honour during Passing-out parade at

References

{{commons category, Passing out Military education and training Military parades Military traditions