SOURCE: THE PRINT
Two incidents in recent days caught my imagination, both related to Para SF, the elite forces of the Indian army. The first was an encounter along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, where, in a close quarter fight, five fully-armed terrorists were eliminated. We also lost five Para SF soldiers — all belonging to the 4 Para Special Forces, which had undertaken the famed surgical strikes.
Second was the demise of a braveheart, Col Navjot Singh Bal, Shaurya Chakra, former commanding officer (CO) of 2 Para SF, who even in the ultimate test, stoically faced his fate, smiling, like the Warriors of Yore. Many thoughts traversed my mind. What is that special ethos that motivates these men of the SF to make the ultimate sacrifice? I also ended up enquiring to a few SF Officers if the operation in J&K had proved rather costly? Shouldn’t we minimise our casualties?
Col Saurabh Shekhawat, KC, SC, SM, VSM, India’s highest decorated serving soldier replied cryptically: “Sir we do our best to minimise casualties through intense training and planning, but once the battle is joined, it’s Vijay Ya Veergati (victory or martyrdom).”
Having had the good fortune to have some of the finest SF units under my command, including the Para Centre at Bangalore, I do have an idea what goes into the selection and making of a Para SF leader and soldier.
Raison d’être for Special Forces
Every nation needs to decide what its special forces are meant for. According to Stephen Cohen, “The task of special forces is the proxy application of force at low and precisely calculated levels, the objective being to achieve some political effect, not a battlefield victory”.
But, as Lt Gen P. C. Katoch, a war veteran of the SF, states: “In sharp contrast, in India, we have been simply looking at battlefield victory. SF units are deployed more on tactical missions rather than the broader, strategic and unconventional missions that should be their charter’’. Rahul Bedi also echoes the same in an article in The Citizen that the SF have often ended up as substitutes for conventional forces in counter-insurgency operations, for tasks that should be undertaken by regular infantry.
India’s Para SF are equipped reasonably, but not with the latest technology. It is time we provided them with the latest and the best that today’s revolution in military affairs offers: drones of all types, space and cyber-based applications among others.
Unconditional ownership of the SF
Combat has always been and continues to be most brutal, challenging, unforgiving and the ultimate test of the human spirit. This is also the raison d’être of the special forces, for they exist only for special missions and combat. Facing special challenges requires a very high level of individual proficiency in the skills peculiar to SF. But more than that, it’s the combined combat capabilities of the squad/team that matters more. And this calls for very high levels of trust and unconditional ownership of the plan and the follow-up action. Anything less would not do. This involves trusting your life with your buddy/squad and ownership of both success and failures, for no plan survives the first contact. In fact, there are more lessons to be learnt in failures.
The Indian Para SF holds the ethos of unconditional and extreme ownership. Trust, of course, is the glue that binds the SF together. Trust that has been earned and created through living and training together under most severe conditions for prolonged periods. Innovation, ingenuity, boldness and risk-taking ability are key facets of it.
Leadership is the ultimate force multiplier
Superlative leadership, especially at the officer’s level is the acknowledged hallmark of the Indian Army. Same is the case with the Para SF. But because of the decentralised nature of their operations, leadership at the JCO and NCO level becomes equally important. And these leaders have to deliver, for they are conscious of the fact that in the ultimate analysis what matters is the success of their mission. The SF junior leaders have to not only be masters of their trade, but also have the sharpness of intellect and battlefield intuition to put their finger on the right course of action, under severely stressful and time-constrained operational situations.
The SF officers are a breed apart, single-minded in their devotion to their profession, almost to an extreme. A large number of them have risen to high ranks, but some have also paid the price of not being able to adjust to life outside the uniform when they call it quits. And this is not peculiar to the Indian Para SF, but a phenomenon seen across the special forces in many nations. Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia, a para officer of repute and erstwhile DGMO, sums it up well: “A bunch of misfits who fit well together. For the hazardous tasks they are called upon to undertake, they have to be special in all respects’’.
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