Their rhythmic steps slapping past the mark on the ground which read -- Antim Pag or the last steps -- as they left the ground to the band's tune to Auld Lang Syne.

An Indian Air Force fly past marked the end of the parade while the junior-most cadets at the Academy sprinted up the mast on the quarter deck to bid the outgoing cadets farewell.

Vice-Admiral Puri, the chief guest in his address, had said the cadets would soon guard and guide the nation's destiny like many before them at the Academy.

"Stand by the motto of your alma mater -- 'Service Before Self' -- and uphold the honour of your country. May God bless you. Jai Hind."

He also mentioned the threat of terrorism and the Indian soldierss battle against a proxy war. Later in response to rediff.com's query on how the Academy was training its cadets to counter the unseen enemy, he said the NDA taught the cadets to think in the fast-changing sphere of the threat of terrorism.

"As far as India is concerned," the admiral said, "we have faced low intensity conflict for two decades much before the world recognised it."

Also read: The General in A Sari