National Defence Academy Series …..2
Our Alma Mater: The Cradle of Indian Military Leadership
By Gp Capt Anant G Bewoor (Retd), VM Golf/26
Jointmanship in the three Defence Forces will now be firmly cemented with the appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff. Naturally the Institution which initiates this process needs to be dynamic and further strengthened.
Graduates from this great Institution are equally concerned that their great Alma Mater should always remain in the forefront in providing the required leadership to the Indian Defence Forces and the Country.
Here is an article by Gp Captain A G Bewoor, VM of 26 NDA Course, HUNTER Squadron. During the Maldives Operations, he was not only Commanding the 44 Squadron but also piloted the lead aircraft an IL 76 into the operations. The leading aircraft was also carrying the Parachute Brigade Commander Brigadier Farooq Balsara. Minutes before going into the “ finals “ together they took the decision of securing the airport by carrying out an opposed landing rather than a parachute drop. This rather difficult decision in face of the unknown probably saved hundreds of lives. Group Captain Anant G Bewoor father was General G G Bewoor,the Army Chief.
Here is the article :
The motto, Seva Parmo Dharam, is not a true translation of Service Before Self. This mottos means “Service is Supreme Duty”. The correct Sanskrit for Service Before Self would be Seva Purogamana Aham. I suppose it was too long to fit into the crest, formation signs, letter heads, etc. But even Seva Parmo Dharam is just as good. In the change of the motto nothing has been devalued at NDA. The aim of the Academy remains to train young men to become leaders of men and women in battle, in peace, and in execution of normal duties.
Sceptics often claim that the Armed Forces are no longer an attractive profession for young men. That the best and the better goes into the Civil Services/Corporate arena. Those values have fallen in the Fauj, “it is not what it used to be in my time.” This last recurring comment is just like fake news.
Look at the numbers, about five lakh candidates appear for the written exam, about 7,000 pass, and finally only 350 get selected. Like good statisticians lets convert into percentages because it makes the desired impact. Only 1.4% passes the written exam, out of that 1.4%, just 5% get into NDA. Or only 0.07% of those who write the exam get into NDA.
This reveals two important aspects about our Alma Mater, first that, twice a year lakhs wish to join the Armed Forces, it is incorrect to believe that boys dislike joining the Fauj. Second that there is no dilution of standards in the selection process, UPSC/SSBs are doing it right, the percentages say it clearly.
The academic content has become very much more technical than it was in our time, something that the NDA/Joint Trg Committee/COSC/JNU/ keep reviewing and improving at regular intervals. Cadets pass out from the NDA within three years, and do so without compromising on Service subjects, or physical achievements, intellectual inquisitiveness, the arts and leisure.
The academic staff, which now includes Education Branch officers, both men and women, led by the Principal under the Dy Commandant, ensure that all these elements find the correct balance during 132 weeks of training that a cadet gets during the 3 years stay at NDA. Many accept cynical deductions that all parts of India are not represented at NDA.
It appears to be an unsubstantiated remark. The population of each State reflects the numbers who appear for NDA, and yet many times the intake from a small State exceeds due to merit than what is expected based purely on population. Such aberrations will happen in any sphere, including in the IT world, civil services, automotive sector, and hospitality business and so on. The Armed Forces is no different. Physical and mental toughening is inescapable at NDA.
Most certainly there will be miscarriage in the garb of training and that must get severe swift exemplary punishment. We demand OLQ, of which tolerance to high stress/pressure is one attribute. The extra-curricular non-timetable activities build that ability to tolerate the seemingly unfair and unexpected conditions. Cadets giving up, seeking withdrawal, feigning illness, intentionally performing below par are not common occurrences and are rare, and happened in our time too.
Academics and modern technologies have to be presented to cadets for absorption as future wars will be intricately dependent on technology. But looking at the Indian canvas against our two adversaries, the man who exploits his machine/weapon best in direct contact with enemy will always matter and win the day.
We cannot be frightened of Body Bags, committing troops to battle is the very basis of being a CO/Bde Cdr/Div Cdr/AOC/C-inC/FOC-in-C and so on. That ability to commit your very own boys into battle is what NDA teaches 18 year olds, tolerance and acceptance of the unexpected is taught and drilled into
him. That is why, ex-cadets has been performing exceptionally since NDA came into being in 1949. We need to be very cautious that fauji Indians do not blindly copy the Manuals/Trg Doctrines/Battle Philosophies of NATO and its allies. Their doctrines have been made for wars in Europe, not for battles the Indo-Gangetic plains or Himalayas. Because many officers, including ex-NDA officers, get impressed by the NATO jargon and superlatives, there is a tendency to create those battle scenarios in India, and then write doctrines for Indian Armed Forces.
Without going into this issue further, one fact is certain, those battles that were envisaged for NATO versus Warsaw Pact countries cannot happen in India. We have to guard against the trickle-down effect of those never to be fought battles being the bedrock of war games and sand model exercises. Otherwise the training syllabus at NDA could get impacted to create officers for the battles which will never be fought by the Indian armed forces.
You would be inculcating thought processes into young minds for events that cannot happen, and the Staff at NDA is forced to modify the training programme to create type cast leaders who will finally be fighting a very different battle, surely then they will face defeat. Severe criticism has been heaped upon NDA, its Service Staff, Commandants/Dy Commandants for imparting unrealistic training, and these accusations have been going on for more than a couple of decades.
That the accusations are wrong is abundantly manifest by the leadership demonstrated by officers in the Armed Forces during the last 20-odd years since the turn of the century. If the training schedule was so badly skewed, there would have been defeats heaped upon frustrations, with the media having a field day followed by uproar in parliament.
Just the contrary and reverse has been happening and continues to materialise. We have trained our boys at the NDA not just to Conquer but also to Run an Empire. NATO doctrines facilitated conquest, but failed to run the conquered empire; examples are contemporary to observe and take lessons from. The NDA trains cadets for their first decade or so in the Armed Forces.
The Academy cannot prepare Generals when they step off the Quarter Deck, it is not the brief of NDA to make AOC-in-Cs or Corps Commanders or Fleet Commanders. If a Divisional Officer can assure himself that his cadet will become a fine Commanding Officer, the aim of training at NDA has been achieved.
Training has to be a fascination, an allurement, captivating, enchanting, challenging, innovating, and yet routine and quotidian because so much has to be repetitive. Finally, we veterans who are children and products of NDA, must accept, it is not intellect that makes great leaders, it is character. It is this character building that NDA ensures and certainly has done for me.
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Gp Capt Anant G Bewoor, (Retd) was BCC of No II Battalion. He served in IAF for 28 years and was a cat A QFI and Senior Instructor at DSSC. One of the 12 pilots selected for training on IL-76 in June 1984, he commanded 44 Sqn for two years and led the airborne assault into Maldives in Nov 1988. Post pre-mature retirement in 1994, he joined Onward Technologies, an Indian multinational which provides software and services in the field of Mechanical Engineering. He served with Onward for 22 years and now lives at Koregaon Park in Pune. ____________________________________________________
