It was the month of December 1965. Much awaited commissioning ceremony at the Indian Military Academy was just a few days away. All Gentlemen Cadets (GCs) were excited at the prospect of wearing the most prized star on their shoulders. Daily rehearsals were on for the passing-out parade. During one of the short breaks, a few GCs got talking to the drill instructor Subedar Yadav. What he said that day still resonates after a gap of more than 50 years.
“GCs, you have chosen the most challenging profession in the world. To command troops and lead them in battle is a great honour; but to earn their trust is a far greater attainment. Your soldiers will follow your orders unquestioningly, even staking their lives. Prove worthy of their faith through professional competence and personal conduct,” he counseled.
The profession of arms is no ordinary vocation. It entails national security and personal privations. Only the most dedicated can deliver. The edifice of the Indian army is built on the twin pillars of committed leadership and motivated soldiers. Both are intrinsically linked and mutually contingent. Distortions in one cause shock waves in the other as well. Whereas our soldierly stock continues to be excellent, it is the leadership that merits attention, both on account of quality and numbers.
In a written response to a question in Lok Sabha in March 2016, Defence Minister Parrikar intimated that the held strength of officers in the army was 40,525 against the authorised strength of 49,631. Thus the army was short of 9,106 officers. These figures exclude Army Medical Corps, Army Dental Corps and Military Nursing Service. While the air force faced no serious shortage, the navy was deficient of 1,265 officers.
The current state of affairs is certainly a cause for major concern both for the government and the services. A number of studies have been carried out to identify reasons for under-subscription of the available vacancies. Unfortunately, most studies have concentrated on establishing linkages between tough service life and inadequate financial packages. They have concluded that the services are unable to attract suitable youth due to better emoluments offered by the corporate world. If these studies are to be believed, a massive hike in pay packets would solve the problem and attract youth in droves. But it is a terribly misplaced premise.
In a country of India’s size and population, availability of young men to serve in the army should never be a problem. Is it that the army career has lost its appeal? Why are the services unable to attract enough candidates of required quality? Is the army being over-choosy about the standard? Why cannot every young man with average intellect be acceptable?
With a view to draw rational inferences, the above posers have been analyzed with respect to the National Defence Academy (NDA) as it is the primary mode of induction of regular officers into the army.
Quality is the Key Criteria
Unlike other organisations, relationship between an army leader and his men is based on mutual trust. Soldiers willingly repose faith in a leader who possesses necessary traits of military leadership. They feel confident that their interests would be safe in his hands. It results in their unflinching loyalty. Therefore, the army needs officers of the highest caliber who can inspire their troops and earn their confidence.
Indian army is ubiquitous. It recruits officers and men from all parts of the country and all segments of the society. They come with different value systems and attitudes. It is well nigh impossible to weave them into a cohesive group without bringing them on a common grid of conduct. Instead of attempting to supplant their concepts of morality, ethics and righteousness, it is considered wiser to steer their conduct through a set of organizational norms.
Norms are unwritten rules which are considered essential for the continued sustenance of the army. Over a period of time, well-evolved traditions, precedents and conventions get translated into norms. Norms can be descriptive (what to do or ‘Dos’) and proscriptive (what not to do or ‘Don’ts’). Breach of norms is viewed very seriously. Norms laid down for the army officers are very challenging and only the most committed can adhere to them diligently.
An army officer is called a gentleman-officer. In addition to professional proficiency and ability to take quick decisions, he is expected to possess all virtues of being a righteous, congenial, honorable, upright and competent leader. Fair and unprejudiced deportment is an essential component of an officer’s morality. Personal integrity is considered to be an indispensable trait of his character. Some of the Officer-like-Qualities considered non-negotiable are as follows:-
· Effective intelligence – ability to cope with practical situations of varying complexity; capacity to evolve independent solutions of practical problems and situations; and resourcefulness (putting available means to the desired end).
· Reasoning ability – ability to grasp the essentials well and arrive at conclusions by rational thinking.
· Organising ability – ability to arrange resources in a systematic way so as to produce effective results.
· Sense of responsibility – enables a leader to be dependable and to willingly discharge his obligations.
· Dynamic qualities – it includes determination (sustained effort to achieve objectives despite set-backs), application to work, drive (inner motive power under pressure and urgency) and courage (ability to appreciate and take purposive risks willingly).
· Stamina – capacity to withstand protracted physical and mental strain.
· Ability to influence a group – ability to bring about willing effort from the group for achieving the objective desired by him through initiative, self-confidence and speedy decision making.
As Subedar Yadav averred, to command troops in battle, leadership of a very high order is essential. That is the reason that all armies in the world seek to recruit the best talent available. Indian army is no exception. It has laid down exacting standards for selecting potential leaders.
Shortage is Detrimental
Group cohesiveness is a force-multiplier to win battles and is totally dependent on the degree of rapport built between commanders at various levels and their subordinates. Rapport, on the other hand, is a function of inter-personal communication in a group.
Unfortunately, over the last few years, there has been a considerable breakdown of communication between commanders and their subordinates. Acute shortage of officers is the primary cause for this state of affairs. Units which are authorized 24 officers are being made to function with 7-9 officers. A company which should have 4-5 officers is being manned by a single officer. It is well nigh impossible for him either to know all soldiers in the company or to look after their welfare adequately. Shortage of officers coupled with overloaded working environment make a worrisome combination.
The Indian army has been rocked by a large number of cases of suicides and fratricide Stress is a key factor that drives soldiers to take the extreme step. When stress surpasses ability to handle, it generates the ‘fight-or-flight’ response in many soldiers and becomes a threat to both physical and emotional well-being.
Most cases can be averted by timely action. For that, the officers must be able to discern the warning signals. Vigilant commanders can gauge the embryonic issues of disconcert and take necessary steps to put the soldiers at ease. Similarly, collective indiscipline in a unit is a highly ominous development. Such incidents do not occur as a result of impulsive outburst but are a manifestation of simmering discontentment over a long period. Unconfirmed reports, conjectures and even rumors can give rise to antagonism against the organisation. Unfortunately, there are not enough officers in units for keeping a close watch on all the soldiers and to take necessary alleviating steps with due compassion.
Reasons for the Shortage of Quality Leaders
Till 1980s, NDA enjoyed the ‘first pick advantage’ and attracted the brightest youth. As Class X was the minimum qualification for entry to the NDA and the age group was 15 to 17 years, entry into NDA was the first ever career option that became available to the youth. Understandably, parents encouraged their sons to sit for NDA examination and be settled in a career at the earliest. As no other career option was available at that stage, most bright boys considered it prudent to give NDA a try. Resultantly, NDA gained and the quality of intake was always very high.
In a blunder of monumental proportions, entry qualification was raised to 10+2 and consequently, the age group rose to 161/2 to 19 years. The fallout of this ill-advised move was quick and severe. As youth had the option to try other careers and avenues, NDA became one of the many choices, if not the last one. Most candidates sat for the NDA examination only after failing to make the grade elsewhere. Thus, NDA lost the unique ‘first pick advantage’. Instead of catching the bright sparks young, it ended up competing with other careers.
Trainability of cadets is another key aspect that suffered. For boys, period between 15 to 21 years of age is considered to be adolescence. Adolescence is the bridge between childhood and adulthood – a period of physical, social and psychological uncertainty and turmoil. Adolescence is sub-divided into three stages – Early Adolescence (15-17 years), Middle Adolescence (17-19 years) and Late Adolescence (19-21 years).
The periods of early adolescence and middle adolescence are the best for imparting training and molding trainees as per the requirements of the army. With motivational levels ruling high, young cadets of impressionable age develop necessary mental and physical robustness with ease.
As the earlier average age of candidates at the time of joining NDA used to be between 16 to 161/2 years, their trainability quotient was very high. Now, with average age of over 18 years at the time of entry, cadets are near-adults. With well set mindsets, habits and behavioral traits, they resist change and are difficult to train.
Another issue of importance relates to the length of service. Earlier, cadets got commission at an average age of 20 years. It kept the age profile of the army young at junior levels. Moreover, they served the services for longer period. Resultantly, for the same quantum of resources invested in training an officer, the services got better returns by way of longer service span. Since the normal age at commissioning has climbed to 22 years; service span has got correspondingly reduced.
Justification given for the misguided move is laughable. It was claimed that entry qualification of 10+2 was essential to grant graduation degree to cadets at the time of passing out to help them in seeking second career after retirement. Can there be a more ridiculous reason? While selecting a young boy, imperatives of military career are being subordinated to his post retirement resettlement after 30 years or more of military service. In any case, suitable arrangements can always be put in place to help officers obtain graduation degree prior to their retirement.
The Way Forward
In army, a commander assumes the role of a friend, guide and mentor. Every soldier looks up to his immediate commander for support in all matters, both official and domestic. Therefore, army needs quality officers, with dedication to duty, loyalty to the nation and compassion for the troops.
Shortage of officers in the services cannot be permitted to continue indefinitely as it is having a debilitating effect on the functioning of the units and taking a very heavy toll of unit cohesion. Officers are holding multiple appointments and are overworked. They cannot devote adequate time to man-management with the result that ‘bonding’ suffers. Prudence lies in filling all existing vacancies with required talent by making army career more attractive.
The profession of arms has always been associated with nationalism, camaraderie and civility. Its members enjoy distinctive stature, prestige and standing in the society. That is the reason many bright young-men prefer it to other more lucrative professions. Therefore, it is essential that nothing is done to degrade the status of the service officers. It should continue to attract the best talent in the country.
The services have irrationally surrendered their ‘first pick’ advantage and now have to do with what some call as ‘left-overs’. Reduction in entry age to the previous levels (15 to 17 years) will also increase trainability quotient, thereby making it much easier to cast the net wide. The objective should be to select suitable youth in early adolescence, train them during the period of middle adolescence and induct them as commissioned officers during late adolescence. The ruling mantra should be to ‘catch them early and train them young’
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