Pragmatic Euphony  

[This post in the series was originally intended to be the final post of this series, where I would place my views on the problems of retaining the officers in the Indian army. However, that will have to wait for another day as an old piece by Saikat Datta for the Indian Express in 2003 caught my eye. This piece titled Special forces: shot in the foot answers a lot of questions about moving to the corporate world from the perspectives of a professional soldier. After all, these Special Forces guys ought to be the ultimate soldier-- a soldier's soldier. To obviate any misrepresentations by placing selected extracts from the article, the whole piece is reproduced under.]

The Army’s elite contingent is haemorrhaging as the best and the brightest choose corporate over combat.

Call it the A-list of the Army. The dream destination for the bright-eyed and short-cropped in fatigues. The unit every soldier worth his salt wants to join, but which welcomes only a few. The Special Forces. The ultimate combination of grit, adventure and action.

But of late, the cocktail seems to be losing its potency. Over the past five years, more than 15 officers have quit the Indian Army’s Special Forces (SF) battalions for life in civvy street. The Army’s top brass is worried, because the string of resignations coincides with a plan to expand the Special Forces capability.

More worrying though, none of the men who have quit in the recent past fits the stereotype of the superseded no-hoper who leaves the Army for a comfortable corporate. Rather, they were at the peak of their Army careers, with enviable 12-20 year service records, the right decorations and bright futures. In other words, they were the best.

The three original SF battalions — the 9th, 10th and 1st battalions of the Parachute Battalion (SF) — are losing an officer an year. Definitely not negligible, when one considers the fact that most SF battalions are much smaller than their infantry counterparts. Also, though each battalion is supposed to have around 25 officers, most operate with merely 15. That is true of the newer SF battalions as well.

Part of the reason lies with the nature of the SF units. Unlike conventional infantry battalions, SF operations are team-based; so, one team could be based in the North-East, while another is sent to the Kashmir Valley. This adds to the pressures of constant combat.

Moreover, the constant exposure to counter-insurgency (CI) operations leave the battalions little time for their primary role, to train and conduct covert special operations and play a strategic role. Raised after the success of the Meghdoot Force in the 1965 war, they were originally meant to be commando battalions for raids behind enemy lines. As the face of modern warfare changed, Gen B C Joshi envisioned a strategic role for the SF and even gave them their own regiment, headquartered at Nahan, in the mid-’90s.

”It is a fallacious explanation that they will gain experience in CI operations. They could gain combat experience in Iraq as well!” says former vice-chief of the army staff Lt-Gen Vijay Oberoi. It was during his stint as director-general of military operations, in 1993-94, that the SF doctrine was encoded.

The diversion into CI operations is compounded by other forms of mismanagement: inadequate planning, failure to comprehend SF ethos, ad hocism, non-recognition of talent. All of which together can provide too much to handle even for men accustomed to the most excruciating of circumstances.

”The system is unable to respond to talent and did not offer accelerated growth or promotion,” says Major Ashish Sonal (retd), who collected decorations all the way from Sri Lanka to Kargil and then closed the chapter on 13 years of service to become country manager for Hill and Associates, a much-in-demand risk assessment company.

If it’s not the lack of growth, it could be the high-pressure tedium that gets to the best. ”I couldn’t keep doing it again and again,” says Maj Dalip Raj Bhalla (retd), as he reminisces about his 14 years in the Army. Majority of those years were spent in the bush, on a constant hunt for terrorists. Earlier this year, he realised ”I have nothing more to prove. I had had my action and I had had my fill”. Agrees Maj Abhya Sapru (retd), who spent years trudging through the Naga hills and the mountains surrounding Doda and the Kashmir Valley. ”There are few places in the Valley that I don’t know,” he says.

Nor are the Special Forces plagued only by cases of individual angst. Consider the case of the 21 Para (SF), one of the newer SF units. It was converted in Nahan and co-located with the Special Forces Training Wing under the Chandimandir-based Western Command 1995-96. When it came to tasking, however, it was moved to the Eastern Command, where 21 Para (SF) quickly became a resource to be flogged. In five months, one team was moved 16 times as the army looked for an operation to justify the presence of an SF team.

”Those were difficult days, because the unit was critically short of Havaldars, the cutting edge of an SF unit. The junior commissioned officers were new and inexperienced,” remembers a former officer.”No records were unavailable and we didn’t even know who was senior to whom among the NCOs.” Now there is talk of diluting the SF ethos as the top brass is considering moving out probation of officers in the unit — a time-tested and honoured tradition the world over — to the Parachute Regimental centre. Another decision that also irks SF officers is the possibility that the unit officers will no longer have a say in deciding the intake of a volunteer-officer, a practice essential to the SF ethos. Such ad hocism took its toll and even a Commanding Officer of 21 SF left the army soon after relinquishing his command and has now settled abroad.

Even 9 Para (SF) which was tasked to hit an important base in the Kargil war was forced to launch an operation that was doomed to fail. With expectations riding high, the operation finally ended on Sando Top as the men engaged the enemy, far short of their original objective.

But, under the present leadership the SF, say observers, could do with a massive overhaul. ”The units must be re-equipped to be used as a strategic force and given an adequate role in national strategy,” says Oberoi. ”This will go a long way in stemming the exodus of bright young officers and achieve the larger end of using the SF as a strategic tool for national interest.” Oberoi believes it would also be in the SF’s interest to be separated from the Parachute regiment. ”They are two entirely different things,” he says.

Many also feel an expansion of the SF should be coincident with a larger modernisation of the force. Way back in 2001, the first step in this direction — and for the establishment of a dedicated aviation squadron for special operations — was taken with two Cabinet notes. The government is yet to clear either proposal, limiting the role the battalions could play. ”(An SF man is) not unique because of the beret or the uniform, but because of the equipment (he carries),” reasons Col N S Koregaonkar (retd). While he ”hung up the uniform in the battalion” he also authored the Special Forces doctrine.

Lt Gen R K Nanavaty (retd), former GOC-in-C Northern Command and Director, commando cell, during the Indian Army’s deployment in Sri Lanka, agrees. ”We are really diluting the concept of Special Forces; it’s more like the American Rangers today, rather than true Special Forces. It would be ideal if we could evolve a system where officers are selected on merit, join and serve with the SF for a few years and then go back to their parent regiments,” he says. This, Nanavaty feels, would also ensure good career prospects for SF officers.

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Maj Dalip Raj Bhalla (retd)
THEN: 1 Para (SF); quit in 2003
NOW: Vice-President, Quest Research Ltd

OUT in the bush, it doesn’t matter whether you shave or not. Crawling through the jungles of the North-East and J&K in search of terrorists for the better part of his working life, Major Dilip Raj Bhalla (retd) had little time for such minor matters of army discipline. All that mattered was his assault Kalashnikov and his buddy. Today, 15 years after he was commissioned, the laptop tops his list of ‘I’m lost without…’

It was 13 years ago, after serving with the Jat regiment for two years, that Bhalla volunteered for the Special Forces. ”I was looking for soldiering that was not restricted to marching,” says Bhalla.

After clearing his gruelling 90-day probation, Bhalla found himself in the North-East, ”trying to get my bearings right”. Days in the bush followed more operations in the Kashmir Valley followed by Kargil and finally Operation Parakram. In between, he put in a stint with the National Security Guards and went back to I Para (SF) when the army mobilised for Operation Parakram. A year before his papers came through, Bhalla did an exhaustive stint on the Siachen glacier.

But after 11 years of ”every day in operations, I suddenly realised that I had enough.” Leaving the army at his peak, Bhalla has charted new territories. And there are no regrets. ”I’ve done my bit,” he says.

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Col John de Britto (retd)
THEN: 9 Para (SF); quit in 2003
NOW: Working with a corporate firm

”Have you spoken to Col Britto?” is a question one hears again and again while researching the Indian Special Forces. A Madras Regiment officer who joined the Special Forces in search of adventure and a good fight, Britto commanded 9 Para (SF) during Kargil. ”I was happy in the army, but after I relinquished my command I didn’t want to wait and stagnate. If I had waited to find out whether I would pick up my next rank or not, it would probably have gotten too late. So I quit and here I am,” says Britto.

From Sri Lanka to the Kashmir Valley to Kargil, there are few jungles which Britto has not seen. ”I had better prospects outside the army and I knew that my fun and frolic days were over,” says the battle-toughened colonel.

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Maj Abhay Sapru (retd)
THEN: 1 Para (SF); quit in 1998
NOW: Assistant Vice-President, Citibank

”I volunteered for the Special Forces and ended up in Sri Lanka. (All through), I was moving from one explosive contact to the other, constantly under fire, operating all over the Island,” remembers Sapru.

Soon after Operation Pawan, the North East beckoned as Operation Bajrang was launched. Then followed a stint as the aide-de-camp (security) to the then Army chief Gen S F Rodrigues.

”In 10 years, the Army had pinned more ribbons on me than most other officers from other arms with more seniority. But I had had enough and I knew that I’d stagnate if I hung around,” says Sapru. The final three years in the Kashmir Valley made up his mind for him. ”I knew it was time to look for new challenges.”

With ”enough” soldiering behind him, Sapru quit in 1998, 10 years after he had signed up with the Special Forces.

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Col N S KoregAonkar (retd)
THEN: 1 Para (SF); quit in 2002
NOW: Consultant, Mahindraa British Telecom

EVEN before relinquishing the command of his unit, Koregaonkar had made up his mind to leave the Army. Years ago, doing a stint in Artrac (Army Training Command), Koregaonkar had authored the Special Forces’ doctrine under the aegis of Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi. Those were heady days for the Special Forces, as they tried to find their feet as a separate Special Forces regiment. The experiment was reversed as Gen B C Joshi died in harness and the euphoria was short-lived.

”I had achieved what I wanted to, and now I wanted new challenges. Somehow waiting for another six-seven years just to pick up my next rank did not make sense,” says the colonel. He hung up his uniform ”in the battalion, having had the privilege to command 1 Para (SF).”

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Col Anil Nayyer (retd)
THEN: 9 Para (SF); quit in 2002
NOW: General manager (operations), Hill and Associates

YEARS ago, when Nayyer signed up for the Special Forces, it was in search of a place where, if he spoke his mind, he would be heard. His faith was not misplaced but ”that had changed by the time I left the battalion,” says Nayyer.

Weighing the offer for the Higher Command course against the new challenges of a corporate existence, Nayyer decided to opt out. ”There were challenges other than waiting for my next rank,” he says drily.

As general manager (operations) at Hill and Associates, it is a new world that he is discovering. Turning his back on a career profile that stretches from Sri Lanka to operations in the Kashmir Valley with the NSG, Nayyer is now busy planning operations like evacuating high-profile corporate clients from riot-hit Gujarat.

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MAJ JAGdeep kairon (retd)
THEN: 1 Para (SF); quit in 1998
NOW: CEO, Net Security Services

THE years of soldiering with the Special Forces finally took its toll one day while training. Considered an ”exuberant” officer by his juniors, Kairon left his ‘’staid” soldiering in the Rajput regiment to volunteer for the Special Forces. After a short stint in Sri Lanka, the better part of his career was spent battling with North-East militants.

Today, Kairon is arguably the biggest employer of Special Forces’ officers outside the army. Old loyalties die hard and his company, which operates out of Malaysia, counts the Indian government among other clients looking for cyber security.

(Some faces have been partially obscured for security reasons)

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Commander R Wadhera (retd)
THEN: Commander, Marine Commando Force; quit in 2001
NOW: Chief Security Officer, Apollo Tyres

WITH operational commitments in Sri Lanka and the Kashmir Valley, there was little time to head out to sea. The navy was still experimenting with the marine special forces, its brand new offspring, and had little time to chalk out the career prospects of its Marine Commando Force (MARCOS) officers. So, between 1986 — when the first Naval officers went to attend the US Navy SEALS’ course — and 2002, all MARCOS officers retired as commanders. Wadhera was one of them.

With little prospect of growth, Wadhera quit, found an opening and quickly joined up. ”We were being dry-listed, which meant that we wouldn’t have any further growth. Rather than stagnate, I decided to quit,” he says.

In fact, the MARCOS finally had their long overdue tryst with destiny in 2003 — nearly 13 years after the force was set up — when the first MARCOS officer was cleared to the rank of Captain in 2003.

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Maj Ashish Sonal (retd)
THEN: 10 Para (SF); quit in 1999
NOW: Country Manager, Hill and Associates Ltd

IT’S a rare breed of officers who will not speak easily of their decorations. Ashish Sonal could take his place of honour among them. The Vir Chakra he was awarded in Sri Lanka is tucked away in his home and finds no mention on the visiting card that describes him as the country manager of one of the most sought-after global corporate entities in risk assessment and security issues.

”It is an urge you will find among Special Forces’ officers,” says Sonal, when asked to explain why he quit the Army. ”It comes when you have achieved something, you tend to seek new challenges. The army system is unable to respond to talent and provide accelerated growth. So it was time to leave.”

If Sonal was looking for fresh pastures after ”doing my bit for the Army”, Hill and Associates was looking for a man with his skills. Tucked away in his C-V is an authoritative account on militancy in India, the outcome of a fellowship he won during his army career. It comes in handy in unexpected ways now.

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Col Arun Anand (retd)
THEN: 1 Para (SF); quit in 2003
NOW: GM, Net Security Services

Sri lanka, the North East and three months in the Kashmir Valley is how Anand sums up his army career with the Special Forces. Commissioned into the Brigade of Guards, Anand, like the others of his ilk, was looking for that ”little bit more.”

Surviving the gruelling probation, which has a rejection rate of nearly 70 per cent, Anand went off to Sri Lanka as soon as 1 Para (SF) was called to arms. When the peacekeeping mission ended, Anand left for the North-East, conducting counter-terrorist operations. Finally, having finished his command of Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry battalion, Anand knew it was time to hang up his boots. ”Finally I could be with my family and for a change they know where I am”.

After 20 years in service and little promotional prospects, Anand went into the corporate world.

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Col Irwin Extross
THEN: 9 Para (SF); will quit on Oct 31
SOON: Chief Security Officer, Maurya Sheraton, Delhi

ONE week from today, Col Extross will be a civilian. Nearly 20 years ago, Extross left the armoured corps looking for action in 9 Para (SF). Sri Lanka, the North East and Kargil… Extross found himself jumping from one trouble spot to the other, doing some real soldiering.

However, while commanding 52 Special Action Group, Extross took the plunge and put in his papers. The reason: life out of the battalion would be different.

Special Forces’ officers, he says, function in a different way and take their own decisions. Adjusting to the rigours of normal soldiering, he felt, was beyond his aspirations. With prospects of stagnation looming ahead, resigning was the only feasible option.