In 1962, following the Sino-Indian War, India identified the need to expand the number of officers for effective operations.

The Chennai school was inaugurated on 15 January 1963, for nation by and with Brigadier Ram Singh as its first Commandant.

However, the school in Chennai continued to operate and on 2 February 1965, it obtained the sanction to shift focus to train officers for the Short Service Regular Commission.

On 1 January 1988, the school was renamed as the Officers Training Academy (OTA), on a pair with the NDA and IMA.

[6] Cadets go through holistic training activities in their curriculum at OTA Chennai , including auxiliary programs such as Emergency Medical Response,[7] Search and Rescue[8] and Hand to Hand[9] combat from organizations such as Red Cross and Survival Instincts.

Gaya Cantonment dates back to World War II, as one of the headquarters of the British Army.

The first batch of 149 trainee-officers underwent training in the academy during the period July 2011 to Jun 2012 and the first passing out parade was conducted on 8 June 2012.

A gap of one and a half years due to covid pandemic saw minimal activities during the passing out parade.

Lt Gen Sukriti Singh Dahiya, SM, VSM is the current commandant of the academy, having taken charge in October 2024.

The OTA Alumni Association[10] was registered under the Societies Act 1860 at Chandigarh with all India jurisdiction.

The Commandant of the College is a three-star rank officer (Lieutenant General) from the Indian Army.