It is the dream of many defence aspirants to join the Indian Navy as an officer. There are different ways to join the Indian Navy, one can join the Navy as an officer through the CDS exam which is conducted by the UPSC or through other entries like INET Officer exam, 10+2 Btech Cadet entry, UES entry, and service entries like CW Entry and HET.

All the officer cadets get their training at the INA. Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala is situated approximately 35 km North of Kannur (Cannanore) and 135 km South of Mangalore, on the West Coast of peninsular India. The name `Ezhimala’ is believed to have been derived from the seven hills (‘Ezhu’ means seven and ‘Mala’ means hill in Malayalam) that dominate the skyline of this area. The place was also known as ‘Elimalai’ meaning ‘Rat Hill’ (‘Eli’ in Malayalam means rat).