Mere training is not enough NDA must impart ethics too during military training
Brig. B.L. Poonia (retd)
“It is not enough to be intelligent, you must have the right character”, wrote the Spanish writer and philosopher Baltasar Gracián. For defence services, emphasising maturity, honesty, integrity and cultivating respect for human lives and human values, is sine qua non for developing character qualities, and history attests to the need for this.
In the Vietnam War alone, United States (US) military commanders were responsible for executing policies which cost USD 300 billion. They delivered 13 million tonnes of high explosives (more than six times the weight of bombs dropped by the US in all theatres of war during World War II), and 90,000 tonnes of gas and herbicides, resulting in the death of about two million people. Yet, they lost the war. Military officers are often required to shoulder great responsibilities, and errors of such magnitude are a matter of serious concern.
During World War II, the Allies suffered 7,000 men killed, wounded and missing during Operation Market Garden (17-25 September 1944), within a short span of about a week. The initiative, quickness of mind, fortitude, heroism and conduct of those who actually fought the battle can never be surpassed. By the same token, the men who planned and administered the operation were probably as intellectually gifted, well-trained, professionally competent and dedicated, as any military planner had ever been. But the overriding feature of the plan was to gratify Field Marshal Montgomery’s ambition to win the race for Berlin, leading to such heavy casualties, which could and should have been avoided. Hence the importance of placing human values above one’s personal ambitions assumes utmost importance.
Military errors of such magnitude have cost hundreds of thousands of lives and untold misery to civilians and soldiers alike. Such grave errors with disastrous consequences are a result of those defects of personality associated with authoritarian and disordered achievement-motivation. This highlights the need for training cadets in military academies to produce mature and balanced leaders, with the highest degree of regard for human lives and ethical values.
Just because a human body is functioning with a reasonably high degree of efficiency, does not mean that we can afford to ignore a small cancerous growth. Conversely, just because we focus our entire attention on how to remove that cancerous growth does not mean that the rest of the body is not functioning efficiently. Hence certain wrong practices and traditions that have long established their roots in National Defence Academy (NDA), with an unofficial stamp of acceptance at the working level, behind the scenes, being highlighted in this article, should be seen in this context.
NDA is undoubtedly one of the finest military academies in the world. But for any such institution to grow further, it is important to continuously keep identifying and examining certain grey areas, which if not addressed adequately may prove to be detrimental to the health of the armed forces in the long run.
On 28 January 2024, former Chief of Naval Staff, and an ex-Commandant of NDA, Admiral Arun Prakash wrote an article on his alma mater in The Hindustan Times which reminded me of another similar article written by Lt Gen. H.S. Panag in The Print on 18 July 2019. They both brought out some valid points, which need to be taken seriously. However, I will dwell upon the most important ones only.
The points raised by Admiral Arun Prakash pertain to the prevalence of the practice of cheating, impersonation, minor thefts and manhandling of juniors. These acts need to be treated as ‘serious offences’, rather than unofficial traditions. Such wrong practices have been carried on for decades under the misnomer of developing initiative, resourcefulness, and toughening up of the cadets physically and mentally. If something is genuinely justified, it should be included in the training syllabus, and not be permitted behind the scenes in the guise of tradition. This is nothing but a recipe for disaster.
Cradle of Cadets
The day in NDA begins with the reciting of the NDA Prayer during the morning muster, which says, “O God, help us to keep ourselves physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight… Awaken our admiration for honest dealing and clean thinking, and guide us to choose the harder right, instead of the easier wrong.” We need to examine whether these unofficial traditions that have crept in over the decades, are in consonance with the high ideals that NDA aspires to promote.
A “minor theft”, unofficially accepted as a positive quality, presuming that it will develop initiative and resourcefulness, will actually end up encouraging a cadet to be a thief, and at some stage of life, it might motivate him to indulge in major acts of corruption, depending upon the opportunity. Because he would then not see it as a negative quality, but as a smart act of initiative grabbing a golden opportunity; something to feel proud of, especially for not having been caught, which by itself would be assumed to be another achievement. But a theft is a theft. Whether it is minor or major, it is purely a matter of opportunity, hence it must be dealt with a heavy hand. Anyone indulging in this malpractice should be relegated forthwith, and expelled from the Academy, in case the offence is repeated.
Moreover, how can stealing ever be encouraged? I still remember two of my squadron mates, who also happened to be my course mates, stealing my monthly pocket money of INR 30 those days, taking advantage of the fact that initially we used to put it inside the chest pocket of the uniform shirt, hung in the wooden almirah, without latching our cabins from inside at night. And this was known to everyone. This happened during our last and final night at the NDA, the night before our final passing out of the Academy. A few others too were victims of the series of thefts committed by this duo that night. Though I later came to know who they were, it was rather too late. When I remember that incident, it shakes my confidence in trusting my own NDA course mates, since two of them had betrayed my faith, that too after training together for three long years, which should have ideally built bonds strong enough to even die for each other. On their part, they convinced themselves psychologically, that they had just “swindled” money, in performance of the last smart act at the Academy. For them, it was something to feel proud of, for having accomplished a mission without getting caught. But was this supposed to be the aim and end result of our three-year training together at the NDA? We ended up being the victims of wrong practices, and those of us who resisted acquiring such useless and shameful qualities, owe it to the good upbringing by our parents, who had sent us to NDA with the hope of being trained better than what they could possibly have done at home, in matters pertaining to personality development.
Then comes the concept of “beg, borrow or steal”, unofficially accepted as an impressive tradition in NDA, behind the scenes of course, as the ultimate measure of a cadet’s smartness and efficiency. It is another misnomer for a useless concept, that needs to be dealt with strictly since it ends up developing negative traits. This is no way of developing initiative and resourcefulness. The resultant effect of encouraging such a concept is that the seniors tend to forcefully acquire things from their helpless juniors, under the garb of having “borrowed” and the chain reaction carries on, course after course. The junior is helplessly left to fend for himself, developing dislike and hatred for such seniors. He feels frustrated due to the total absence of fair play and justice. If a particular uniform item gets lost or damaged, a cadet should not be asked by the seniors to resort to the tactics of “beg, borrow or steal”. Instead, a system of such items being made available on payment, within the squadron/battalion should be put in place. Forceful acquisitions from juniors and ‘minor thefts’ should not be glamourized as smartness or resourcefulness. Honesty should take precedence over all this concocted nonsense, and anyone indulging in such malpractices should be relegated forthwith. The very use of this terminology depicts a complete lack of emotional intelligence, a quality so essential for a good leader.
We as ex-NDA cadets, still have those painful memories of some of our seniors taking away our uniform items like riding boots, water bottles, NDA ties, etc. While we were compelled to accept this injustice in an utter state of helplessness, it made us feel subservient, killing in us the basic pride of an NDA cadet.
Then comes the most heinous and unkind of all the malpractices—”manhandling of juniors”, which was widely prevalent during our NDA training period. All the courses were victims of this evil practice and no wonder we developed a hatred for those seniors who manhandled us, a shameful act which destroys an individual’s self-respect and kills the spirit of pride in him. When it acquires an unofficial stamp of acceptance at the working level, it makes a junior feel like a slave, making him realize his helplessness, as if there is nothing called justice, which ultimately leads to utter frustration. Being a junior does not mean that you are inferior. I must state that 95 per cent of the seniors were good, but that cancerous growth of 5 per cent is a matter of serious concern, which we can ill afford to overlook, and that is what this article is all about.
We may have been educated in many disciplines, but when it comes to developing character qualities, I found NDA was infected with some serious malpractices during our training period, so much so that about a year and a half after we passed out, one of the 6th-termers was beaten to death by their juniors during the social function held two nights prior to passing out. It was the ultimate wake-up call.
When we joined the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, we found an absolute positive change—no manhandling and no encouragement of the useless and senseless doctrine of “beg, borrow or steal”. We were treated like ‘gentleman cadets’, and it was an unbelievably refreshing change, inculcating in us a sense of pride. We really felt like ‘officer cadets’.
One of our seniors in NDA from my squadron, a sadist of the highest order, happened to meet me 22 years later, while we both were still in service, but he could not look straight into my eyes. He should have ideally been relegated in NDA for lack of officer like qualities (OLQ), but instead, it is we who had to suffer for his deficiencies. As a result, we carried that baggage of bitterness instead of the NDA spirit.
While each one of us has had different types of experiences at NDA, we all would agree that the dignity of a person supersedes all other considerations, and manhandling is one evil practice which is a direct attack on the dignity of a human being. It amounts to a violation of human rights. Even the prisoners of war are not manhandled but treated as per the Geneva Convention. A cadet being manhandled suffers silently, with a bruised ego and eroded self-esteem, which totally numbs his soul. No human being deserves this state of affairs, since it destroys that very sense of pride in him, which the NDA aspires to develop. An element of human understanding is an all-pervading factor in military life. No matter how great an officer’s qualifications, or how high the rank or appointment he holds, his overall competence is reduced if he lacks the personal qualities of a gentleman.
The most recent cases that occurred during the last two decades, not to mention many others that might have occurred at the lower level, pertain to General Officers. Two army chiefs, one army commander, along with three Lt Gens and four Maj. Gens were found guilty of their involvement in Mumbai’s Adarsh Society scam at Colaba military station. However, since they had retired and ceased to be under the Army Act, the government closed their cases after conveying to them its ‘displeasure’ in writing, thus allowing them to get off scot-free.
The next two glaring cases pertain to two Lt Gens, both of whom qualify for the classic case study on a violation of the spirit of the NDA Motto and NDA Prayer. One pertains to one of the commandants of the NDA, who was a cadet during our training period and another one to an army commander, about five years our senior in NDA. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiries were initiated against both, immediately after their retirement, for their involvement in malpractices of a severe and sensational nature, amounting to moral turpitude.
While the above-mentioned General Officers may have been able to escape the clutches of the law, a defence officer is not fit to command troops or face his colleagues and subordinates, unless he can stand straight on the moral high ground. His misdeeds cannot be buried under the shadow of his rank and appointment. NDA is just an example, and each and every training institution must pay special attention to the most essential aspects of ethics. Though it may be impossible to ensure 100 per cent standards of ethics, any tradition that is at a crossroads with ethics must be done away with forthwith.
NDA training should therefore emphasise the importance of ethics and treating juniors with due respect. We must remember that as long as armies are made up of people, upright conduct and respect for human values will remain irreplaceable elements of command and leadership. An officer is not worthy of the rank he holds, unless he honours and respects his subordinates and possesses impeccable integrity. Hence, these are the first and foremost qualities that need to be taught and inculcated in the cadets during their NDA training; not to bully and manhandle their juniors, and certainly not to follow the third-rate doctrine of “beg, borrow or steal”.
(The author is from 44th NDA Course. He was commissioned in the 2nd Battalion Brigade of the Guards [1st Grenadiers] in June 1974)