The granting of a battlefield commission has its historical precursor in the medieval practice of the knighting or ennoblement of a plebeian combatant on the battleground for demonstration of heroic qualities in an exceptional degree.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed the last previous field promotion was believed to have happened during the Korean War (1950–1953).
[1] During the Burma campaign in March 1944, Havildar (Sergeant) Kulbahadur Gurung of the 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles was commissioned at the rank of captain in the field for an action wherein he personally killed several enemy Japanese combatants.
Soldiers given a field promotion from corporal to sergeant must complete the Basic Leader Course or BLC.
The most notable recipient of a battlefield commission was Audie Murphy, who was promoted from staff sergeant to Second Lieutenant during World War II.
Lieutenant Vikram Batra was given a field promotion to captain in 1999, during the Kargil War (Operation Vijay).
During the war, the task of capturing Point 5140 was assigned to the "13 JAK RIF" under the command of (then) Lt. Col. Yogesh Kumar Joshi.