REFLECTIONS
ON A MILITARY CAREER
Medals and
Ribbons is perhaps an interesting magazine for both parents and students to sit
together and decide whether a career in the Indian military is worth considering, given the galaxy of opportunities
available today. Arguably such opportunities were unthinkable in our days. Yet
there are so many of you who are attracted to the uniform, the respect it
invites from our citizens and the chance to serve the nation. Is the Military
the only option to serve the nation? Of course not. But it is the only vocation
that asks you to sign a blank cheque to make the supreme sacrifice if and when
the Country calls upon you to do so. When Pavandeep Rajan sang,” Teri mitti me
miljawan….” at the Indian Idol 2020 show there was not a single dry eye in the
audience both in the studio and perhaps in the virtual medium too. That is the
emotion that the military profession evokes in people.
Given the
nature of military service, it is only logical that induction, training and many other aspects are
unique to the Armed Forces. Let us consider just one entry, to the NDA,
popularly called the Cradle of Leadership. Even if you qualify the UPSC entrance
examination, you are required to get through a rigorous test at the Services Selection
Board (SSB). The specially trained officers of the SSB, put you through a
psychology test, followed by a group obstacle test, finally culminating in an
interview with the Commandant and his staff. Not many of you would know that
every six months, over 5 lakh students write the entrance examination, of which
the UPSC shortlists less than 10000. The selection centres spread across India
then send about 300- 400 to NDA every six months provided the candidates are medically fit.
To exemplify this
process, let me tell you a true story about a young boy who opted for the military
way of life from the VIIIth standard. His story may tell you that one does not
have to follow the rigidly perceived entry guidelines to the military and that
so long as your heart is set on a career in uniform you may exceed your own
expectations.
The family under discussion moved from the foothills of Kodaikanal to Coimbatore in 1959. Soon after settling down in a school, the young boy was inducted into the NCC airwing. The PT Master Mr. Siddappaji - given an Airforce rank but in NCC uniform, soon became a mentor. Airforce subjects, parade training and aero modeling were activities twice a week under the able guidance of a serving Squadron Leader and a Flight Sergeant. Soon the young man rose to the rank of cadet Flight sergeant and was a part of the State contingent for the Republic day parade in 1962. The unit was delighted when he was chosen as the best All- India cadet and awarded a trophy by the then PM Pandit Nehru. The news trickled down in a few days both to the family and the school. That photo of receiving the trophy in 1962, is still displayed at the school in Coimbatore.
The sudden
attention, along with rising expectations from older and younger people around
him was a challenge beyond the maturity of the young man. He had to learn to
manage the expectations of peers and superiors. I shall list the lessons he
learnt at every stage of his career, starting with this episode of his life.
Lesson
one-keep your feet firmly on the ground and pursue your passion.
Along with
accolades came ready recognition. Loyola College at Chennai was happy to admit
him for the pre-university curriculum. He was a natural choice for the NCC
Senior division air wing. Additional challenges of balancing activities with
academics had to be tackled whilst being away from home. He did win more medals
at the state level. Consequently, he was readily accepted by St Joseph at Bengaluru
for the under-graduation science degree course in 1964. By 1966, with more
awards and a visit to Singapore, then part of Malaysia, for a camp, and a solo
badge for piloting a Tiger Moth, he was all set to join the Armed Forces. Fate
intervened at two levels. First, he missed the bus for the entrance to NDA as
pursuing a degree course and all his extra-curricular activities including
cricket left him with little time. There was no one to guide him on a future
course of action.
Second, it
was not to be the IAF. Suffice it to say, the Indian Navy (IN) launched a short
service scheme for graduates and by end 1966, the young man was in the Navy.
Everything that he learnt had to be unlearnt. Uniform, the salute, parade and
drill, the vocabulary -all of it.
In 1969, he was
selected to go to the Soviet Union to train for Missile boats. This young
officer returns in 1970 and takes part in the 1971 war - on the first attack on
Karachi on 04 Dec 1971—now celebrated as Navy Day! Soon, the euphoria of war subsided
and the Navy offers him a Permanent Commission. Many of his coursemates
declined the offer and went their way.
Now came the
real challenge. The Navy had rightly assumed that a massive modernization
programme, underway since the Chinese
invasion, could not be managed without corresponding increase of manpower. The
lead time to induct personnel and make them ready for sea service needed
detailed preparations and it would not meet deadlines of the acquisition
programmes of the Navy. Hence the graduate entry- short service scheme of 7
years-was found to be a solution. To sweeten the deal, officers so inducted
were offered the rank of Ag Sub Lt from the date of entry. It may be noted it
was not until 1974 that cadets of NDA passed out as graduates.
Implicit in the decision of inducting Short
service Commission Officers were three assumptions. That, graduates being older
than the cadets of the regular entry, would be mature; they would be technically
better placed to absorb new technology as only those from a science background
were commissioned; and, that they may not need all the specialist courses that
the regular entry counterparts were subjected to. The backbone of the service
was the regular entry officers. In theory, it looked good.
The young man
with a total training period of 6 months found himself pitted against the
regular entry counterpart having done three full years at NDA, 6 months on the
Cadet’s training ship, six more as a Midshipman, and a year plus for Sub Lieutenants’
courses (called “Subs courses”), It appeared to be an unfair battle. The
experiment was doomed to fail. But did it?
The quality
and quantum of training being so diverse, performance levels had no definite
pattern to gauge in the short term. In the
medium term, the performance appraisal by the Commanding Officers began to
narrow the perceived gap in the output of the two entries. Given that no one
really under-performs intentionally, what then was driving the under-trained to
bridge the gap? The burning desire not to be publicly rebuked for inadequacy
and to be treated with dignity may well have been the cause. The positive
outcome for the service was that it created a healthy environment of
competition and the winner had to be judged by performance-based indicators, solely
driven by merit and leadership traits. Consequently, the young man found
himself making progress in selection for courses and appointments overseas.
Lesson
Two- Do not judge a book by its cover. Judge impartially and reward merit.
By the time the
young man transited from time-based promotion to selection-based Promotion
Board results, he could not but acknowledge the fact that all his seniors who
mentored and groomed him were neither parochial nor biased and had the service
interest paramount while grooming future leaders.
Even as he grew
in rank and stature, along with those he admired, he did encounter officers who
were incompetent, unable to display leadership qualities and those who were
lacking integrity. Some bad eggs do slip through despite checks and balances.
They exist in every walk of life. But in the military, they are unlikely to
lead their men to victory.
Why he asked himself, is it that the military
expects high standards of professionalism, unbiased assessments, high quality
of leadership traits and impartial conduct with ethical and moral underpinning?
The answers were stark and staring in his face. Is it the fear of swift
retribution, and disciplinary action that kept them relatively free of need and
greed? Is it possible to practice ethical conduct and moral virtues when the
environment outside the military was sullied by quite different values? He
learnt that just as he is expected to make the supreme sacrifice when needed,
he has to also ensure the safety and welfare of the men he leads. The only
values that the men admire are the core values of the military. Why would they
want to follow you to the end of the earth, and certain death if they did not
see you as professionally competent, trustworthy, patriotic, and a role model?
Such a demand for leadership qualities and integrity is not a part of the DNA
of any other profession but the military. Victory in war cannot be assured
without fighting for a cause or the “ashes of your fathers and the temples of
your Gods” as put so eloquently in the ballad Horatius. The stanza in Ronald Hopwood’s famous poem, The Laws of the Navy, “On the strength
of one link in the cable, Dependeth the might of the chain, Who knows when thou
mayest be tested? So live that thou
barest the strain,” gave him the answers that became his beacons for the rest of his career.
By the time the young man reached fairly senior ranks with all its trials and tribulations he had seen both good and evil. The Serenity Prayer came to his rescue when in serious doubt and the same navy poem, The Laws of the Navy gave him the course to steer in rough and calm seas. Just one line each picked at random should raise your curiosity to find them on the internet. “GOD, grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change…….” And “Count not on certain promotion, but rather to gain it aspire…….”
But a caveat would be appropriate. You have
tons of information at your fingertips but that alone does not give you wisdom.
You need to live your life and go grey before you have wisdom.
So, the young man who is now old with grandchildren in their teens is still to find the right answers to deal with the
mysteries of life. But one clear answer to the question ‘what would you do if
you had a choice in the next life’- without doubt or hesitation, with a
childlike enthusiasm, he is bound to say, “Join the Military”.
Consulting (Naval) Editor’s Note: Having
reached the end of this fine recounting of lessons learnt, a reader may be
wondering who is the author talking about. The author is talking about his own
life and career and did not particularly think it was necessary to write in the
first person. However, to give the article some life, I think it may be
appropriate to mention that the author is Vice Admiral Suresh Bangara, who
retired as CINC of the Navy’s Southern Naval Command. He has also been the
Commandant of the National Defence Academy. “Bangs” has always been an
energetic, feisty officer who encouraged juniors to speak their minds to him
and to others. That he was often heard doing the same to HIS superiors made
this easier for him to expect from his juniors. I still enjoy an argument with
him on phone even as I benefit from his counsel more often than he knows. We
were fortunate, as I mention in my own article elsewhere, to benefit from more
than a few seniors who lived by the dictum, “Example is the Best Navy
Order.”May I say, that Bangs was always bang-on for that.
