Introduction
In the previous blog I had written about how much we had learned from the leadership of Brig. Karam Singh, the Commander of the Lorried Brigade when we served under him in 1962/63.
The period following the 1962 war was characterized by rapid expansion of the Army. New units were being raised; the officers’ intake had expanded and included the newly introduced Emergency Commission. Reservists had been recalled and new drafts soon started replacing them. It was a period of great change. Formations manning the border against China were learning and innovating all the time. New equipment was being introduced and physical and battle fitness was a major issue.
In July 1964, our battalion moved up to the Kameng district of then NEFA, now Arunachal Pradesh. The Chinese had withdrawn and our Division was defending Bomdi La. A year or so later, the Division moved up to take up defences at Se La, where the defences had to be constructed in extremely high altitude areas and the defence strategy recast.
We served two seasoned soldiers as Divisional Commanders, Maj. Gen. (later Lt. Gen.) Sartaj Singh, GM, followed by Maj. Gen. Onkar Singh Kalkat. Their leadership styles were in complete contrast with each other and yet wholly effective. Just serving under them was a learning experience for all of us.
Induction into the Field Area
The Division to which we were going had a simple rule. All incoming Infantry units had to move on foot into their respective positions. The disembarking railway station was Misamari. After unloading and getting organised, the battalion was ferried in vehicles to a place called Foothills where we dismounted and started marching. The march was over three days into the hills with a night’s halt at two places. It helped us find our hill legs.
Shortly thereafter, we moved up to our defences for familiarization. The enemy, though far away was very real and even after more than a year the debris of the last war was still lying around in the more remote areas. In this atmosphere, the General came to visit and inspect us.
Commanders’ Style of Command
Maj. Gen. Sartaj Singh, to put it mildly, was a terror! He had won the George Medal for single handedly tackling a soldier who had run amok in the Second World War. His bravery and competence was legendary as also his temper! He was seeing us for the first time and apparently he did not like what he saw.
We were The Guards, ceremonial types he thought us, unfit because we were coming from the Armoured Division and so on. From the moment he stepped into our battalion he found fault with everything that he saw and told us so, in untarnished terms. Now that I look back, I think he was trying to ‘ginger up’ the battalion. But, in our resentment at some of the unfair criticism, that message was lost. It was a pity that the start was like this, because we had much to learn from him, from his tactical planning and his personal example. The manner in which the Division was deployed for defence was a textbook model. Many times I thought that a division in defence in Burma must have looked like this. Rightfully, Gen. Sartaj Singh later rose to high rank and held important operational appointments thereafter.
What I experienced that day and learned as I grew older in service was that each fighting unit is a unique entity with a personality of its own and has to be handled in its own way. Bullying a battalion is unlikely to get best out of it. This is what happened to an old and distinguished battalion like ours under Gen. Sartaj. A General once said to me that your men must be more afraid of you than the enemy. I do not agree. Commanding a Brigade in genuinely adverse circumstances in Sri Lanka, I realized that a good unit enhances a commander’s confidence and all those who come into contact with it. Similarly, a good confident commander will communicate his resolve to a unit and get them to perform above themselves. Far too often I saw in Sri Lanka that a small reverse would be blown out of proportion by unconfident senior commanders and then the unit or formation would go into a shell, some never to recover.
Maj. Gen. Onkar Singh Kalkat was completely opposite. He won over everyone down to the last jawan with his personality. He was gregarious, outgoing and yet a hard taskmaster. He knew almost every officer in his Division by name, no mean feat, and a considerable number of JCOs and men. On the mountain roads, soldiers would wait for him to pass and force him to have tea with them, which he usually did. Remember we were now on Se La, most of us deployed at heights above 14,000 feet and many of our posts could only be approached on foot, mules were only for load carrying.
In this environment, Gen. Kalkat decided that every man must be supremely fit and must know every inch of the ground that we were to operate over. So he started what he called, ‘Padyatras’ (pilgrimages on foot!). Every man in the Division had to walk, with his load on his back and be out for days at a time. There was no part of our operational area that we did not walk over. Initially people complained, but once they had done it, the confidence they developed had to be seen to be believed.
In an area devoid of any vegetation, bar rhododendrons on some of the slopes, any movement was visible for miles around. Gen. Kalkat would always tell us company commanders, hold your position for that critical night, next day the entire divisional artillery will be available to you. Fighting in high altitude is a different concept altogether and the General made sure that we knew what his plan of battle was. We were made to feel confident about our capability to face any challenge. In those days, with the pall of the recent defeat hanging over the Army, this was a no mean achievement. We wore our Divisional Sign with a sense of pride and achievement under Kalkat.
The Learning Process
The best part of military service (or I suppose any working experience) is that it is always a continuous learning process. So what did I learn under these two very different commanders?
In battle or preparing for it, there is no substitute for professional competence and resolve. Both the Divisional Commanders personified this simple fact. This is applicable across the entire spectrum of soldiering as well as activities outside the military sphere.
On the style of command, the lesson was that every leader is different and will command according to his personality. Battle is the final arbiter. In 1971, Lt. Gen. Sartaj’s Corps performed admirably and he personally stabilized the Chhamb battle when disaster loomed.
The next lesson I learned as a young Infantryman was that in the mountains in particular, physical fitness is the key. Ultimately it is a state of mind. Strong will and perseverance will overcome all obstacles.
I also learned then and later that like units, formations also have distinct personalities. An old unit draws on its inherent strength to carry a weak commanding officer whereas a formation is very much dependent on its commander. Commanders who command their formations for short duration are unlikely to have any impact. Leadership is a two-way street, where the leader and his command feed off each other’s strengths. If this link breaks or is dysfunctional, neither is likely to perform well.
Any regrets? I have one. We were operating in NEFA (Kameng) in a distinctive biotope. The flora, fauna, geological formation of the mountains were worthy of study and exploration. Sadly, we operated in complete ignorance of our natural surroundings. It is inexcusable.
Last Word
In my next blog, I shall write about the man I served as Brigade Major, Brigadier K.S. Pannu, MVC. He was what I call the ‘estest’ commander. One could describe him only in superlatives, bravest, craziest, maddest, and so on. That must wait for the next time.
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