Flight of Fancy

Maj. Gen. Raj Mehta (retd)

I am a short service entry officer, call me an ‘Agniveer’ if you will. I am among those in my 1968 batch who ‘made the cut’ for permanent commission before my ‘tour’ of five years ran out followed by surgical demobbing without benefits for those not making the cut. Early in my career of almost 39 years, I found myself posted to the globally benchmarked National Defence Academy (NDA) as an instructor- among the very few Short Service officers to be so selected. I have three ex-NDA brothers, a spiffy ex-NDA nephew and several brothers-in-law. They underwent three years training at NDA; a fourth year at IMA before commissioning. I’ve served in both single and All-India-All-Class units and had no issues with either.

I could therefore say with misplaced smugness and complacency that I am a survivor; been there, done that… been through savage Agniveer travails yet had top-of-the-shack army siblings/ relatives at home; reminders of permanent commission duties and benefits. I too have tasted that ambrosia.

Nothing could, however, be more disrespectful or irrelevant. This is because my Agniveer experience was life changing, searing. It took time for both I and the Army in terms of subordinates, peers and seniors to understand each other well enough to place our lives on trust; it being a critical component of army ethos. Whether general or jawan, it cannot be demanded; be rushed. It must be earned, felt and experienced through delivered performance and adherence to the army’s ethos and ethics. Its presence wins wars; its absence ensures defeat and compromise. Trust is thus an infectious ‘feel good’ factor that establishes faith across all ranks. It brings in respect, admiration and pride—in oneself, in peers, and for country even at cost of death. No sacrifice for those you trust or serve with honour and integrity, such as unit or country, is big enough. These qualities, values and ‘belief sets’; attitudes, are complex and thrive in the mind-space. They are felt and seen in the soldiers’ body language and actions through verbal and non-verbal gestures. An Agniveer selected for an operational mission has to earn that faith/ trust/ respect and that takes time. Collectively, these could be clubbed as ‘A way of life; military ethos; military ethics. These are big chunks of the military’s Regimental system which binds all ranks to its ‘one for all; all for one’ (courtesy Alexandre Dumas) credo… to its Naam-Namak-Nishan and Mai-Baap belief sets. These are learnt; not taught.

Even when a sudden border crisis gives little learning time as happened in 1962/1971 when under-training personnel were rushed into battle, the raw soldiers’ need to deliver was based on his implicit faith that whatever may be the consequences, whether death, injury or glory, he would be looked after by the very army ethos/ way of life that drove the raw soldier to volunteer.

This humane and deep-rooted approach runs counter to the beguiling logic in use for supporting short tours. It clinically suggests (there is no reference to military ethos) that since most soldiers die young, a short ‘Tour’ produces soldiers as good in quality as fully trained and ‘educated’ soldiers. T