The National Cadet Corps was raised on 15 July 1948 under the National Cadet Corps Act, 1948, and functions under the Ministry of Defence with its headquarters in New Delhi. It is a voluntary tri-service organisation covering the Army, Navy and Air Force wings, and with more than 15 lakh cadets on its rolls it is described as the largest uniformed youth organisation in the world. Its motto is 'Unity and Discipline' (Ekta aur Anushasan). Lieutenant General Virendra Vats took charge as Director General, NCC, in October 2025. Long treks, mountaineering expeditions and adventure camps form a standing part of NCC training because high altitude tests endurance, acclimatisation, navigation and small-team coordination in a way classroom drill cannot.

Adventure training in the NCC has historically been dominated by boys' expeditions. An all-girl trek across an 18,300-foot pass, planned and led entirely by women officers of the three Services, sits within a wider shift in which women have moved into permanent commission, combat support arms and command appointments in the armed forces. For exam purposes the expedition also carries a geography payload: it runs between two cold deserts, Spiti and Changthang, both of which appear regularly in questions on India's physiography, pastoralism and high-altitude ecology.