Indian Army News & Discussions - 11 June 2014

[Bishwa]

The Indian Army tactics of proactive punitive strikes on PA posts to prevent infiltration seem similar to the tactics adopted in Siachen earlier to keep PA from accumulating and then attacking Indian posts.

In Siachen, the army had used well placed artillery spotters in the heights to locate PA posts and then pound them with artillery. Slowly the PA started abandoning front posts and were pushed back. Even the posts in the back were located and pounded. The net result was attacks on Indian posts came down quickly.

Reference :
Siachen : Conflict without end by lt Gen V.R.Raghavan
http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/baffled-b ... fts-posts/
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/jamm ... 62382.html

[sum]

^^IIRC, this is a start of a policy like what people of BRF were asking about a few kms of creating sanitised no Paki zone all along the LoC by pounding the daylights out of existing posts and not allowing them to rebuild

[Karan M]

Is it lost on the people here that officer is from north-east? That's a bigger middle finger to every d1ck-head out there.

Lost on whom? Not the people here.
BTW the propagandists are now weaving a story about the pore-shawl maker.

[LokeshC]

so far the critics haven't provided what was the alternate choice in those circumstances

That's not their job description. They are here to tell us about yeevil yindoos screwing shawl makers and stone workers/masons of Cashmere. They dont care about alternatives.

[rkhanna]

rohitvats wrote:
Is it lost on the people here that officer is from north-east? That's a bigger middle finger to every d1ck-head out there.


Lost on whom? Not the people here.
BTW the propagandists are now weaving a story about the pore-shawl maker.

Actually more importantly the major Rose up through the other ranks and became an officer . Could be a primary reason he doesn't give 2 hoots about political correctness and was able yt take this decision .

[Hari Seldon]

Kashmir 'human shield' row: Dirty war has to be fought with innovative ways, Army Chief Bipin Rawat says (TOI)

Good interview

[rohitvats]

<SNIP>Actually more importantly the major Rose up through the other ranks and became an officer . Could be a primary reason he doesn't give 2 hoots about political correctness and was able yet take this decision .

That is no reason or even a conjecture. It depends purely on the officer in question.

[Karthik S]

We still need to get sophisticated in ways we treat our soliders.

[vasu raya]

Kashmir 'human shield' row: Dirty war has to be fought with innovative ways, Army Chief Bipin Rawat says (TOI)

Good interview

they can't fire bullets but they can throw stones using those tennis ball thrower machine design since stones are ok not pellet guns according to human rights standards, maybe they can then define the stone size as well

[KrishnaK]

<SNIP>Actually more importantly the major Rose up through the other ranks and became an officer . Could be a primary reason he doesn't give 2 hoots about political correctness and was able yet take this decision .

That is no reason or even a conjecture. It depends purely on the officer in question.

I have a couple of questions about SOP/political correctness in the IA. When was using a human shield allowed under army operating procedures before - specific circumstances, exigent circumstances to be decided by the officer in question, generally and freely allowed ? Given this situation what is the SOP likely to be now ? Using stone throwers as human shield as a tactic recommended by the political correctness manuals in question ?

[chetak]

That is no reason or even a conjecture. It depends purely on the officer in question.

I have a couple of questions about SOP/political correctness in the IA. When was using a human shield allowed under army operating procedures before - specific circumstances, exigent circumstances to be decided by the officer in question, generally and freely allowed ? Given this situation what is the SOP likely to be now ? Using stone throwers as human shield as a tactic recommended by the political correctness manuals in question ?

Don't expect to be bottle fed here.

I have a few questions for you, though.

what other options would you have chosen, under the prevailing circumstances??

Very very easy for keyboard warriors like you to spout shit in philosophical terms without ANY relevance to or lacking even basic understanding of the real world scenario.

Well, @KrishnaK, let's hear your practical suggestions/chosen options of how the IA Major should have gone about his sworn and bounden duty on that very fateful day.

Don't be shy, now. Everyone here already knows that you know how to wield the keyboard.

SOP for the army and complete freedom to commit murder for the jehadis??

There are hundreds of injured IA guys, many of them in hospitals and some even in a coma due to injuries sustained in stone pelting and some IA guys have even died after head injuries from pelted stones.

Yes, political correctness manuals are very useful for use as toilet paper during field operations.

when under attack, there are no effing SOPs.

this Bharat Ratna deserving warrior was among the very few who had got his ideas right. Instead, they gave the ratna to some squeaky voiced ingrate cricketer who is shirking his parliamentary duties to make money.

[shiv]

I have a couple of questions about SOP/political correctness in the IA. When was using a human shield allowed under army operating procedures before - specific circumstances, exigent circumstances to be decided by the officer in question, generally and freely allowed ? Given this situation what is the SOP likely to be now ? Using stone throwers as human shield as a tactic recommended by the political correctness manuals in question ?

Army operating procedures are not written down to the last detail. For example - when a man uses himself as a human shield to lie down on a live grenade to protect his mates - there is no written rule that he should do that if a live grenade lands next to him and is about to explode. There are numerous examples of men doing that. In Mumbai 26/11 NSG men put themselves in front as shields to stop the hotel guests they were rescuing from getting hit.

By nitpicking and trying to write down rules for these things one could perhaps say these men who used themselves as human shields should be court-martialled for simply allowing themselves to be killed/hurt. No pension for his family if he dies. Rules Rules Rules.

Should major Gogoi have used himself as a human shield? Why not? But some rules exist here. If he is armed he is allowed to use a firearm to avoid harm to himself. So he could have mowed down the stone throwers using a weapon and blown the crowd away. I guess he could be courmartialled and thrown out of the army for not doing that. But like I said, no rules exist that he must not innovate. The army allows initiative and those who have mugged up stuff for IIT-JEE/NEET expecting that they must be able to recall the rulebook under stress may not fit the bill.

[Pratyush]

I have gone through the arguments from the opponents of the so called human shield tactic. And have not been able to understand the alternative course of action available to Major Gogoi.

Surely not getting his men killed. Nor was it to fire into the crowd.

His job was to get every one out safely and he did just that. That too without any bloodshed. That alone makes him a hero.

He deserves all the support he is getting from his boss and the nation.

[Yagnasri]

He is on the ground. He knows the real threat he and his men were facing real time. He had to take the decision on the spot. He took it with the positive outcome when no one got killed. He says this fellow was the ring leader of the gang throwing stones. Second guessing sitting in AC rooms with liquor glass in hand is easy now.

As for as SOPs and manuals, there is no fixed or ready made things in most of the combat situations. Officers are expected to take decisions in the heat of battle. Their training and knowledge of the SOPs provide them with the ideas about what to do. But the final decision is and shall be their own.

[Gaur]

I am bemused by the use of term "Human Shield" in this scenario. The word brings to my mind the image of a desperate person trying to save his life from a superior force/opposition by using an innocent bystander as a shield. As the man endangers others to save his life, it is rightly considered to be an act of cowardice.

But who was shielding whom in this case?

Ironically, Maj Gogoi, was saving the lives of stonepelters and not his. Because the only alternative was to fire upon thestone pelter. And the so called "victim" was hardly innocent. Other than being a stone pelter himself, I can't imagine why he was outside among mass of stone pelters hell bent on killing CRPF men and election machinary.

[chetak]

I am bemused by the use of "Human Shield" in this scenario. The word brings to my mind a desperate person to save his life from a superior force/opposition using an innocent bystander. As the man the shield's life above his, it is rightly considered to be an act of cowardice.

But who was shielding whom in this case?

Ironically, Maj Gogoi, was saving the lives of stonepelters and not his. Because the only alternative was to fire upon thestone pelter. And the so called "victim" was hardly innocent. Other than being a stone pelter himself, I can't imagine why he was outside among mass of stone pelters hell bent on killing CRPF men and election machinary.

wasn't the little SOB shawl maker allegedly out to vote??

then, why was he found pelting stones 20 Kms away from his home.

he should have been shot first and then tied to the jeep.

[KrishnaK]

I have a couple of questions about SOP/political correctness in the IA. When was using a human shield allowed under army operating procedures before - specific circumstances, exigent circumstances to be decided by the officer in question, generally and freely allowed ? Given this situation what is the SOP likely to be now ? Using stone throwers as human shield as a tactic recommended by the political correctness manuals in question ?

Army operating procedures are not written down to the last detail. For example - when a man uses himself as a human shield to lie down on a live grenade to protect his mates - there is no written rule that he should do that if a live grenade lands next to him and is about to explode. There are numerous examples of men doing that. In Mumbai 26/11 NSG men put themselves in front as shields to stop the hotel guests they were rescuing from getting hit.

By nitpicking and trying to write down rules for these things one could perhaps say these men who used themselves as human shields should be court-martialled for simply allowing themselves to be killed/hurt. No pension for his family if he dies. Rules Rules Rules.

Should major Gogoi have used himself as a human shield? Why not? But some rules exist here. If he is armed he is allowed to use a firearm to avoid harm to himself. So he could have mowed down the stone throwers using a weapon and blown the crowd away. I guess he could be courmartialled and thrown out of the army for not doing that. But like I said, no rules exist that he must not innovate. The army allows initiative and those who have mugged up stuff for IIT-JEE/NEET expecting that they must be able to recall the rulebook under stress may not fit the bill.

I'm not denying the good major actually saved lives, that he did "innovate". I would have no idea what to do in that situation either. Clearly the army intends to stand by his decision. That begets the question - if this innovation is acceptable this once, under what circumstances will it be permissible in the future ? Surely this question is being asked in the army as well ? Would it be considered acceptable in Kashmir only, on all Indian territory, on UN deployment ?

Thinking on your feet is required even for IIT-JEE. Clearly the stress the army faces is something else entirely. I'd like to believe that is precisely why SOPs exist. That it helps officers think in the heat of battle - which course of options are viable and which of them are liable to get them court-martialled. Rules exist to help army men. The army's legal branch will have to come up with an answer to that question.

[Karan M]

Nice try at putting a spin on things, but IA chief commended Major Gogoi for his quick thinking.
Done, dusted, IA knows what its SOPs are for, and when its men need to innovate.

[Karthik S]

Army operating procedures are not written down to the last detail. For example - when a man uses himself as a human shield to lie down on a live grenade to protect his mates - there is no written rule that he should do that if a live grenade lands next to him and is about to explode. There are numerous examples of men doing that. In Mumbai 26/11 NSG men put themselves in front as shields to stop the hotel guests they were rescuing from getting hit.

By nitpicking and trying to write down rules for these things one could perhaps say these men who used themselves as human shields should be court-martialled for simply allowing themselves to be killed/hurt. No pension for his family if he dies. Rules Rules Rules.

Should major Gogoi have used himself as a human shield? Why not? But some rules exist here. If he is armed he is allowed to use a firearm to avoid harm to himself. So he could have mowed down the stone throwers using a weapon and blown the crowd away. I guess he could be courmartialled and thrown out of the army for not doing that. But like I said, no rules exist that he must not innovate. The army allows initiative and those who have mugged up stuff for IIT-JEE/NEET expecting that they must be able to recall the rulebook under stress may not fit the bill.

I'm not denying the good major actually saved lives, that he did "innovate". I would have no idea what to do in that situation either. Clearly the army intends to stand by his decision. That begets the question - if this innovation is acceptable this once, under what circumstances will it be permissible in the future ? Surely this question is being asked in the army as well ? Would it be considered acceptable in Kashmir only, on all Indian territory, on UN deployment ?

Thinking on your feet is required even for IIT-JEE. Clearly the stress the army faces is something else entirely. I'd like to believe that is precisely why SOPs exist. That it helps officers think in the heat of battle - which course of options are viable and which of them are liable to get them court-martialled. Rules exist to help army men. The army's legal branch will have to come up with an answer to that question.

While they are necessary but SOP can't exist for every possible scenario, because every single conflict/war scenario can't be contemplated before hand. This is not counter strike game.

Secondly, thinking is not the same as memorizing as you have mistakenly interchanged both words. If you memorize SOPs and strictly try to follow it, what's there to think in that? We do thinking using analysis, intuition, spot evaluation, and make appropriate decision. Tell me, If you are in life and death situation, would your brain engage in trying to save yourself and your people or trying to recall most suitable SOPs to that situation?

BTW the major may have followed one SOP in that, he didn't want to shoot these people despite outnumbered, facing 1000 odd pelters.

[shiv]

I'd like to believe that is precisely why SOPs exist. That it helps officers think in the heat of battle - which course of options are viable and which of them are liable to get them court-martialled. Rules exist to help army men. The army's legal branch will have to come up with an answer to that question.

Fundamentally - mortal combat has no rules. When you put men in a situations where they can be killed it is completely absurd to ask them to think about being courtmartialled. A very large number of acts of heroism involve things that would ordinarily invite court-martial - but often ends up in death, martyrdom and a medal.

The idea that "one must think on one's feet" sounds so civilized and good but the question is whether the soldier is asked to think about courtmartial, or to save lives or take enemy lives. Which requires priority. Most humans would normally try and preserve one's own life. That in fact can lead to court martial for the soldier if he preserved his own life by failing to face up to danger. The soldier is never penalized for taking enemy lives. He might be penalized for shooting civilians. He would fail in his duty if he surrendered to the crowd. This particular case is a unique one and I cannot imagine a rulebook that says

Whereas a soldier is required to face mortal danger and eliminate the enemy by any and all means possible

And whereas the soldier is required to take all possible measures to preserve the life and physical safety of his men and those entrusted in his care

And whereas the soldier is required to distinguish if the threat to his life comes from
a)armed enemy combatants
or
b)un-uniformed people

And whereas the soldier must discriminate the nature of threat the un uniformed people pose to his life or to the lives and safety of men under his command or people whose safety is entrusted with him

And whereas the soldier must adequately assess the quality and lethality of weapons arrayed against him and those under his command, and judge if lethal firearms are being used or other lethal weapons such as rocks or petrol bombs of other unspecified weapons which in the assessment of the soldier can bring bodily harm including death to the soldier himself or to the men under his command

And, under the foregoing circumstances, if the soldier finds himself in a situation where he has captive unarmed combatant/s whose good offices can be used for negotiation of a safe passage for the soldiers and the men under and others under his command

And upon refusal of the said captive to assist in negotiation of safe passage, and adequate evidence of this refusal can be recorded by means of electronic media or witness accounts, the soldier in command should then treat the captive as one of the people under his care and stick his thumb in his musharraf and hope for the best failing which he will face court-martial.

No. The Major did think on his feet and did the best thing possible and was fully aware of all the rules and regulations.

[Khalsa]

He innovated without harming the civilian (without even qustioning the civilians motives).
Get over it !!

[KLNMurthy]

One thing the noise regarding Major Gogoi's actions has done is to expose the combined ignorance and hollowness of the media mavens. It is amazing to me that virtually every single one of the pontificators sidesteps or completely ignores the fundamental question, "what was the correct course of action for the Major, under the circumstances?" They mindlessly chant the same pronouncements over and over again, with different and bigger words, as if that would be more convincing to the reader. All the big, "respected" names--Praveen swami, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Karan Thapar, and on and on, sound perfectly ridiculous and clueless, and furthermore ridiculously clueless about being exposed as clueless.

There is something very wrong when people of this caliber are making very good livings and occupy such prestigious positions in society.

[ArjunPandit]

One thing the noise regarding Major Gogoi's actions has done is to expose the combined ignorance and hollowness of the media mavens. It is amazing to me that virtually every single one of the pontificators sidesteps or completely ignores the fundamental question, "what was the correct course of action for the Major, under the circumstances?" They mindlessly chant the same pronouncements over and over again, with different and bigger words, as if that would be more convincing to the reader. All the big, "respected" names--Praveen swami, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Karan Thapar, and on and on, sound perfectly ridiculous and clueless, and furthermore ridiculously clueless about being exposed as clueless.

There is something very wrong when people of this caliber are making very good livings and occupy such prestigious positions in society.

Perhaps these guys should be allowed to join "IA Open House: A day with freedom/peace loving stone pelters of only free kashmir" bringing spouse and kids would be highly encouraged. Then I would see how they give lectures. Sitting in AC halls running the shops for their firang masters or their twisted brains is easy (To some extent very similar to many of us here too).

Those in US would remember that this was memorial day weekend. Yours truly visited DC and couldnt stop his eyes from getting moist when I saw the war memorials right in the heart of city, all provided with fresh flowers, Units and people remembering those that fell away from their land so that the ideology and nation lives, with war always remaining far from home. .

[jamwal]

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/ ... t-4686845/

CBI arrests Lt Colonel, middleman involved in Army transfer racket
It is alleged that Moni had entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kohli and Purshottam, an army officer posted in ESD, Kakinara for influencing transfer of various officers.

The CBI has arrested a lt colonel and a middleman in connection with a transfer racket at the Army headquarters in which officers allegedly paid lakhs of rupees to manipulate their postings.The CBI has arrested a lt colonel and a middleman in connection with a transfer racket at the Army headquarters in which officers allegedly paid lakhs of rupees to manipulate their postings.
Lt Col Ranganathan Suvramani Moni, posted in the personnel division of the Army, and middleman Gaurav Kohli were arrested while an alleged bribe of Rs 2 lakh was changing hands for the transfer of a Bengaluru based officer, CBI sources said today. The investigating agency had learnt of the illicit activities of some Army officers and laid a trap to arrest the two men.
The agency busted the racket involving senior Army officers posted at its headquarters here. They were allegedly giving choice postings for “huge illegal gratification” which ran into lakhs for a single transfer, sources said. The expose is bound to send ripples in the Army as some more senior officers are suspected to be involved in the case, CBI sources said.
The FIR also names Brigadier S K Grover, DDG Personnel, but his name has not been included in the list of accused. The case has been registered against Moni, Hyderabad-based army officer Purshottam, Bengaluru-based barracks and stores officer (BSO) S. Subhas and alleged middleman Gaurav Kohli.
The bribe was being paid through hawala channels, the CBI FIR alleged. The agency is also probing how Army officers were ready to pay lakhs of rupees to get a posting of their choice. It is alleged that Moni entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kohli and Purshottam, an army officer posted in the engineer stores department (ESD), Kakinara, for influencing the transfer of various officers.
Purshottam allegedly contacted army officers who were either posted in different field formations or faced imminent transfer and were desirous of getting posted to their preferred locations. He used to contact Kohli, who was close to senior officers in the personnel division of the army headquarters here.

[vasu raya]

https://sputniknews.com/military/201706 ... s-kashmir/

"Based on uncooled microbolometer technology having a pitch equivalent to 17 microns, the required night sight thermal imaging will have a human detection range of minimum of 800 meters while it will easily recognize a single standing human target at distance of minimum 400 meters under clear weather conditions and all terrain," a request for information issued by the Indian Army said.

[Viv S]

TOM FOOLERY, THE FUN OF YOUTH

One Sunday morning in 1968, in our 4th term in NDA, we reported to the swimming pool in PT Rig with a costume and towel, to jump off the 7 mtr board and swim a length to pass the minimum swimming ability test, failing of which usually led to relegation. Jumping off the 7 mtr board was a monkey trick which many of my course mates dreaded to do. At least the ones like me who were not born to be a fish or volunteered to join the Navy. The swimming tests were scheduled between 0600 to 0800 hrs, after which the pool was reserved for use by the officers and their families.

The tests were conducted by the venerable, formidable, Maj Darshan Singh (aka Dushman, alias Dush) who was the PTO. On that particular day Dush had a plaster cast on his right leg, an accident that took place from a misplaced kick at the backside of one of my die hard course mate Bhagawanpal two weeks earlier. Bhagawanpal was quick and agile and shielded his backside with a medicine ball and hence ‘Dush’ kicked the wrong ball. A dislocated ankle was not something that deterred the highly conscientious Dush from his work, basically to mentally, morally and physically cast our mind in RCC and Portland Cement. The tests commenced on time, one Squadron at a time, with Alpha Squadron leading.

Dush would blow the whistle and the cadets would troop up the ladder to the 7 mtr board, and form a line. On his next whistle, they would jump off the board one by one, like para troopers without their parachute, after shouting their name and number on top of their voice. That was the plan. But like all battle plans, there were glitches. Some cadets would not jump and it took lots of persuasion and threats to make them jump. Often Dush would laboriously climb up the ladder, and using his plastered foot, kick the cadets down from the 7 mtr diving board. It went on like this and it was almost eight O’clock by the time Echo Squadron’s turn came. Those of us from Fox were still sitting on the side of the pool in a squad waiting for our turn.

Very soon a crowd began to gather, officers, their wives, and several of them with their grown up daughters, all of them in their swimming trunks or gowns. There was also Sunita Bakshi, the very buxom daughter of an ex Cmdt. I think she was at that time staying with one of the officers to complete her school education from Poona. She was a very good looking girl, very dynamic and good natured, more or less our age.

In due course, everyone from Echo Squadron also jumped, after some form of persuasion or the other, and the kicks, all except Cdt AK from Echo Squadron. AK refused to jump.

When Dush climbed the stairs, AK would find a shortcut to come down usually by monkey crawling along the vertical supporting structure. When Dush came down, AK would climb back to the 7 mtr board like a monkey going up the pole.

‘Cadet, I will punish you’, Dush roared, blowing his whistle, long bursts, for emphasis.

‘Sir, Sir, please Sir, give me a chance, I will jump, .......I will jump on my own’, AK would say.

The drama would be repeated all over again. It was really very hilarious to see Dush and AK doing monkey tricks on the diving ladder. We could not stop giggling.

First the Divisional Officers stepped in and when that did not get AK to jump, the Squadron Commander took over. Nothing made AK jump, his antics became more and more hilarious, monkey like, crawling all over the place with Dush chasing him up and down. After a while, Dush managed to corner AK on the 7 mtr board.

‘Sir, I will jump, .......I promise I will jump, .......can you come up to the edge with me, just to give me confidence ?’ AK shouted and poor Dush took him on his word. When they reached the edge, AK pretended to stumble and gave Dush a push.

Dush fell from 7 mtr board like a sack of potatoes and some of the PT ‘Ustads’ had to jump in to fish him out. The Cmdt had arrived by then and was quietly watching the ‘tamasha’ from a corner.

‘Let me try and make him jump’, said Sunita Bakshi.

‘Can I come up there ?’, she called to AK with a very sweet smile.

‘Yes Mam, but don’t push me OK ?’ AK called down to her.

‘No No, I just want to talk to you’, she said to him loudly, as she climbed up the stairs.

For next ten minutes Sunita cooed and hushed, put her arms around and cajoled AK, right there on the 7 mtr board, right there in the public view. Fox Squadron died with jealousy.

Finally, inch by inch, Sunita managed to bring AK to the edge of the diving board. And when they reached there, AK put his hands on her backside and gave her a push. Sunita too fell from 7 mtr board like a sack of potatoes. Many of us wanted to jump in to save her, but the young bachelor officers beat us to it.

‘Call the Bugler’, the Cmdt roared. ‘I am going to relegate this bugger right here’.

Come down here’, he commanded AK.

AK came down, hesitating at each step and stood at ramrod attention in front of the Cmdt, unmoving, gaze on the horizon.

The Cmdt gave him a long bullshit, we couldn’t hear much of it.

‘Are you going to jump ?’, he asked loudly, once again.

‘Yeeeeeees Sssssssssssir’, AK answered in a loud parade ground voice.

He made a big show of going up the diving board, came down half way and went up all over again. He stood for a while contemplating on the 7 mtr board.

‘Sir .......can I jump from 10 mtr instead ?’, he called to the Cmdt.

‘Well done AK, that is it, show me that you can do it’, answered the Cmdt, equally loud with a broad satisfied grin.

AK slowly climbed to the 10 mtr board. He went to the middle of the board and stood at attention for almost two minutes, taking deep breaths. He was short, very muscular, perfectly built, with prominent biceps and pectoral muscles, 6 toffee abs. He was like Adonis, waiting for the inevitable. Sunita huddled on the side of the pool like a wet otter, looking at AK with doleful eyes. The Cmdt was probably hyper ventilating. We sat there holding back our giggle.

There was pin drop silence, all eyes turned upwards to look at AK.

Slowly AK took three steps and went to the very edge. He took another few deep breaths, shook his shoulders to relax, his eyes focussed on the distant horizon. Very slowly, in perfect slow motion, he did a hand stand at the edge of the 10 mtr board. He stood on his hands for another minute, perfectly still, head craned backwards, his toes pointing at the sky.

All of a sudden he pushed with his hands upward and forward like ejecting a Polaris missile from a submarine. For a second or two, he stretched his hands out, in an inverted crucifix position, body stiff and toes pointing straight at the sky. As the gravity took hold, he rolled himself into a ball clasping his knees with both hands, chin tucked into his chest, somersaulting backwards once, ...........twice, ..........three times. As he approached the water, his body uncoiled, hands above his head, ram rod, and entered water in a perfect dive, with hardly a splash. In terms of diving it was an inverted triple summersault, with a pike value of 4.9, a most difficult one, executed by AK like an Olympian diver.

There was loud and reverberating silence. I couldn’t hear anyone breathing. Every one held their breath waiting for AK to surface from the deep diving end. We waited, and waited, for almost two minutes. There was no sign of AK.

Suddenly there was a splash at the opposite end of the pool, the shallow end.

AK ejected himself out of water like a Dolphin.

There were shouts, ‘Cadet, come here’. The Cmdt shouting louder than the others. Everyone was laughing and cheering, Sunita Bakshi loudest.

But AK ran for his life in his swimming trunks, he ran past the Gym, behind the QM fort. He kept running as if the devil was after him. He went back to Echo Squadron in his swimming trunks and hid in the tea room behind the parapet for next two hours.

AK was marched up to the Cmdt next morning. I believe the Cmdt got up from his chair to shake AK’s hand. But AK was awarded 14 days restriction for ‘Shirking’. Do you have any idea what ‘Shirking’ means ? I don’t. I think it was just healthy tom foolery, the fun of youth. The swimming tests were cancelled that eventful Sunday and Foxies had to go again the following Sunday, with the lot from G to L Sqns. We were told, ‘Cadet, No Shirking, Relegate Hoga’. And Sunita was not there to watch, so there was no fun to take ‘Panga’.

Afterwards, AK was the runaway diving champ in NDA and there was none to beat him. He had been a diving champ even before he joined NDA, but had not told anyone about it. AK served in Sikh Regt with distinction. Many years later, he grew old like the rest of us, and hence retired. Col AK continues to be a very lively old man and enjoys orchestrating elaborate pranks on daily basis, especially if his wife is not watching !!

[Karthik S]

Indian scientist's bullet-proof vest for the army gets government nod
KOLKATA: A bullet-proof jacket designed by Bengali scientist Professor Shantanu Bhowmick has finally received the government's approval.
The empowered committee of the Ministry of Defence approved the jacket, which is made from indigenous ultra modern lightweight thermoplastic technology. It will be included in the Prime Minister's 'Make in India' project. The task of manufacturing the jackets will begin after the PMO gives it the green-light.
A joint collaboration between the DRDO and defence ministry, this is the first time in 70 years that the Indian Army will have bullet-proof jacket manufactured completely through indigenous technology.
Recommended By Colombia
Currently, India spends Rs 1.5 lakh on a single jacket used by the military and para-military forces. These jackets are imported from America. Dr Bhowmick's jacket will cost only Rs 50,000 per jacket. That means India will save Rs 20,000 crores every year.
The present bullet proof jackets being used by our jawans in the Army, BSF, CRPF and Police are heavy, weighing anywhere between 15-18 kgs. These new light weight jackets weigh 6-8 times less at just 1.5 kg. It has 20 layers and the carbon fiber in it will enable the jacket to work in 57 degrees Celsius also.
Professor Shantanu Bhowmick is the departmental head of aerospace engineering in Coimbatore's Amrita University. He has high hopes for his new invention and expressed his happiness at getting the official nod for the project. He thanked former Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Subrata Saha, who had taken the initiative and encouraged Bhowmick. The professor dedicated his invention to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... I&from=mdr

[dwaipayandhar]

TOM FOOLERY, THE FUN OF YOUTH

One Sunday morning in 1968, in our 4th term in NDA, we reported to the swimming pool in PT Rig with a costume and towel, to jump off the 7 mtr board and swim a length to pass the minimum swimming ability test, failing of which usually led to relegation. Jumping off the 7 mtr board was a monkey trick which many of my course mates dreaded to do. At least the ones like me who were not born to be a fish or volunteered to join the Navy. The swimming tests were scheduled between 0600 to 0800 hrs, after which the pool was reserved for use by the officers and their families.

The tests were conducted by the venerable, formidable, Maj Darshan Singh (aka Dushman, alias Dush) who was the PTO. On that particular day Dush had a plaster cast on his right leg, an accident that took place from a misplaced kick at the backside of one of my die hard course mate Bhagawanpal two weeks earlier. Bhagawanpal was quick and agile and shielded his backside with a medicine ball and hence ‘Dush’ kicked the wrong ball. A dislocated ankle was not something that deterred the highly conscientious Dush from his work, basically to mentally, morally and physically cast our mind in RCC and Portland Cement. The tests commenced on time, one Squadron at a time, with Alpha Squadron leading.

Dush would blow the whistle and the cadets would troop up the ladder to the 7 mtr board, and form a line. On his next whistle, they would jump off the board one by one, like para troopers without their parachute, after shouting their name and number on top of their voice. That was the plan. But like all battle plans, there were glitches. Some cadets would not jump and it took lots of persuasion and threats to make them jump. Often Dush would laboriously climb up the ladder, and using his plastered foot, kick the cadets down from the 7 mtr diving board. It went on like this and it was almost eight O’clock by the time Echo Squadron’s turn came. Those of us from Fox were still sitting on the side of the pool in a squad waiting for our turn.

Very soon a crowd began to gather, officers, their wives, and several of them with their grown up daughters, all of them in their swimming trunks or gowns. There was also Sunita Bakshi, the very buxom daughter of an ex Cmdt. I think she was at that time staying with one of the officers to complete her school education from Poona. She was a very good looking girl, very dynamic and good natured, more or less our age.

In due course, everyone from Echo Squadron also jumped, after some form of persuasion or the other, and the kicks, all except Cdt AK from Echo Squadron. AK refused to jump.

When Dush climbed the stairs, AK would find a shortcut to come down usually by monkey crawling along the vertical supporting structure. When Dush came down, AK would climb back to the 7 mtr board like a monkey going up the pole.

‘Cadet, I will punish you’, Dush roared, blowing his whistle, long bursts, for emphasis.

‘Sir, Sir, please Sir, give me a chance, I will jump, .......I will jump on my own’, AK would say.

The drama would be repeated all over again. It was really very hilarious to see Dush and AK doing monkey tricks on the diving ladder. We could not stop giggling.

First the Divisional Officers stepped in and when that did not get AK to jump, the Squadron Commander took over. Nothing made AK jump, his antics became more and more hilarious, monkey like, crawling all over the place with Dush chasing him up and down. After a while, Dush managed to corner AK on the 7 mtr board.

‘Sir, I will jump, .......I promise I will jump, .......can you come up to the edge with me, just to give me confidence ?’ AK shouted and poor Dush took him on his word. When they reached the edge, AK pretended to stumble and gave Dush a push.

Dush fell from 7 mtr board like a sack of potatoes and some of the PT ‘Ustads’ had to jump in to fish him out. The Cmdt had arrived by then and was quietly watching the ‘tamasha’ from a corner.

‘Let me try and make him jump’, said Sunita Bakshi.

‘Can I come up there ?’, she called to AK with a very sweet smile.

‘Yes Mam, but don’t push me OK ?’ AK called down to her.

‘No No, I just want to talk to you’, she said to him loudly, as she climbed up the stairs.

For next ten minutes Sunita cooed and hushed, put her arms around and cajoled AK, right there on the 7 mtr board, right there in the public view. Fox Squadron died with jealousy.

Finally, inch by inch, Sunita managed to bring AK to the edge of the diving board. And when they reached there, AK put his hands on her backside and gave her a push. Sunita too fell from 7 mtr board like a sack of potatoes. Many of us wanted to jump in to save her, but the young bachelor officers beat us to it.

‘Call the Bugler’, the Cmdt roared. ‘I am going to relegate this bugger right here’.

Come down here’, he commanded AK.

AK came down, hesitating at each step and stood at ramrod attention in front of the Cmdt, unmoving, gaze on the horizon.

The Cmdt gave him a long bullshit, we couldn’t hear much of it.

‘Are you going to jump ?’, he asked loudly, once again.

‘Yeeeeeees Sssssssssssir’, AK answered in a loud parade ground voice.

He made a big show of going up the diving board, came down half way and went up all over again. He stood for a while contemplating on the 7 mtr board.

‘Sir .......can I jump from 10 mtr instead ?’, he called to the Cmdt.

‘Well done AK, that is it, show me that you can do it’, answered the Cmdt, equally loud with a broad satisfied grin.

AK slowly climbed to the 10 mtr board. He went to the middle of the board and stood at attention for almost two minutes, taking deep breaths. He was short, very muscular, perfectly built, with prominent biceps and pectoral muscles, 6 toffee abs. He was like Adonis, waiting for the inevitable. Sunita huddled on the side of the pool like a wet otter, looking at AK with doleful eyes. The Cmdt was probably hyper ventilating. We sat there holding back our giggle.

There was pin drop silence, all eyes turned upwards to look at AK.

Slowly AK took three steps and went to the very edge. He took another few deep breaths, shook his shoulders to relax, his eyes focussed on the distant horizon. Very slowly, in perfect slow motion, he did a hand stand at the edge of the 10 mtr board. He stood on his hands for another minute, perfectly still, head craned backwards, his toes pointing at the sky.

All of a sudden he pushed with his hands upward and forward like ejecting a Polaris missile from a submarine. For a second or two, he stretched his hands out, in an inverted crucifix position, body stiff and toes pointing straight at the sky. As the gravity took hold, he rolled himself into a ball clasping his knees with both hands, chin tucked into his chest, somersaulting backwards once, ...........twice, ..........three times. As he approached the water, his body uncoiled, hands above his head, ram rod, and entered water in a perfect dive, with hardly a splash. In terms of diving it was an inverted triple summersault, with a pike value of 4.9, a most difficult one, executed by AK like an Olympian diver.

There was loud and reverberating silence. I couldn’t hear anyone breathing. Every one held their breath waiting for AK to surface from the deep diving end. We waited, and waited, for almost two minutes. There was no sign of AK.

Suddenly there was a splash at the opposite end of the pool, the shallow end.

AK ejected himself out of water like a Dolphin.

There were shouts, ‘Cadet, come here’. The Cmdt shouting louder than the others. Everyone was laughing and cheering, Sunita Bakshi loudest.

But AK ran for his life in his swimming trunks, he ran past the Gym, behind the QM fort. He kept running as if the devil was after him. He went back to Echo Squadron in his swimming trunks and hid in the tea room behind the parapet for next two hours.

AK was marched up to the Cmdt next morning. I believe the Cmdt got up from his chair to shake AK’s hand. But AK was awarded 14 days restriction for ‘Shirking’. Do you have any idea what ‘Shirking’ means ? I don’t. I think it was just healthy tom foolery, the fun of youth. The swimming tests were cancelled that eventful Sunday and Foxies had to go again the following Sunday, with the lot from G to L Sqns. We were told, ‘Cadet, No Shirking, Relegate Hoga’. And Sunita was not there to watch, so there was no fun to take ‘Panga’.

Afterwards, AK was the runaway diving champ in NDA and there was none to beat him. He had been a diving champ even before he joined NDA, but had not told anyone about it. AK served in Sikh Regt with distinction. Many years later, he grew old like the rest of us, and hence retired. Col AK continues to be a very lively old man and enjoys orchestrating elaborate pranks on daily basis, especially if his wife is not watching !!

This should go in the Humour Thread....
You military folks must have a lot of stories to tell. Why not tell them. We non-military folks would love to hear them.

[Viv S]

This should go in the Humour Thread....
You military folks must have a lot of stories to tell. Why not tell them. We non-military folks would love to hear them.

Not my story boss. Just passing it on - its a good description of the culture at NDA (regimented but with an appreciation for chutzpah).

P.S. Please don't quote the whole post - it eats up page space.

[shiv]

TOM FOOLERY, THE FUN OF YOUTH

Whattay great story!

[Surya]

Lots of info in this - the Werewolf MPV trials



http://www.wmf.com.na/files/india_trial_report.pdf

[uddu]

Undefeated Episode 7: Homage to the Courage - Maj Gen Somnath Jha & Mrs Chitra Jha | Director's Cut
https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2017/05/un ... -veterans/

Hope this was not posted before. Watch this guys..A must watch.

[srai]

Lots of info in this - the Werewolf MPV trials



http://www.wmf.com.na/files/india_trial_report.pdf

Was it inducted?

[manjgu]

ofc not..maybe they forgot to bribe MoD babu's / minishter saheb !!! kidding..maybe there are other factors in selection. we have no idea about the cost?

[Cosmo_R]

Koran Thapar makes the point that the IA is not above criticism:

"In a democracy every institution of state must face criticism when it’s justified and deserved. If that includes the prime minister – and it most certainly does – how can it possibly exclude the army and its chief?"

http://www.hindustantimes.com/columns/i ... kBNCI.html

My reaction is that yes that is fine except that the IA should also be formally allowed to criticize the press and politicians—naming names. Else it's just a pinata.

[srai]

^^^

Seems bit too generic.

There are official channels and verbiage on how public statements are made/delivered. They should all have their own media group (spokesperson) who can disseminate official positions and refute any allegations/incorrect information. Those in official positions don't have the luxury to state anything in their mind lest they be confused as official positions.

There are also independent entities like the press and other institutions that can do investigative or editorial/opinion pieces on basically anything. It should be clearly indicated whether it is opinion-based or fact-based. Sponsored disclosures should be mandatory in order to discern if such an influence makes it more of an "advertorial" piece. Every editorial board/people have certain leanings and their writings reflect it. It is up to the readers to make informed choices/opinions.

[Pratyush]

What the a holes criticising the army seem to be forgetting is that the army is a tool of the state and it is the state they represent. So any criticisim should be directed at the state for using the army and not the army it self.

This to me is an insidious attempt to split the to. It is bound to fail.

[Karan M]

can the media take the same criticism they want the state to be subject to? or will they whine about how their freedoms are being violated?

[srai]

can the media take the same criticism they want the state to be subject to? or will they whine about how their freedoms are being violated?

Agree.

Licensed media also need to be held to high integrity standards. What they publish must be verifiable by independent sources. All sides must be given their fair share of viewpoint. Any opinion pieces they publish should be labeled as such.

Personal blogs/posts are a different matter altogether.

[Rishi Verma]

Army rejects the OFB rifle -AGAIN

countless faults found, quality issues found... Will anyone be hanged? No

Why dont we buy it from the Afghan Taliban