A work ethos
for soldiering
By K.S.
Bajwa
MY father told me: "Son, go and
find yourself work, which you enjoy doing. Never again
will you ever have to work throughout your life."
(Abraham Lincoln). It took me many years of knocking
about to discover the true meaning of what he meant. The
ethos of a work I liked and which (if pursued with
dedication) invariably generated achievement. This would
add a positive impulse and a feeling of no sweat doing
this work.
My upbringing in a
land-owning, feudal environment had not fitted me out for
sustained hard work. Our disposition as sporting country
gentlemen did help us to gather our physical resources
with only as much of the mind as was needed to master the
skills that went with this lifestyle. In consequence, the
better part of our mental capabilities were neither
tapped adequately nor integrated with the physical for a
cutting edge. Childhood was pampered and school as well
as college were a lark. Education was neither focused on
a specific goal, nor channeled into a direction.
Passing examinations held
no challenges. By early 1945 when the far boundary of
college learning was touched, the prospect of an officer
and a gentleman in uniform was held out. Training in the
Indian Military Academy, Dehra Dun, was not very far off
the feudal alley. The primary challenge was to
successfully earn a commission with some degree of
distinction amongst my peers.
After becoming an officer,
the creed of soldiering was a distant goal often obscured
by the here and now of an attractive social whirl. Then I
hit a bad patch. A combination of my naivete, a few
thoughtless but innocent excesses and a disapproving
senior echelon chose to knock me around a bit. Adversity
threatened to drag me down. But I had learnt much and
chose to take on fresh challenges.
In the first step, I
turned my back upon the Engineers, the arm of the Army
chosen by me for a career. My request for a transfer to
the armoured corps was denied and I was instead sent to
the infantry. I had an awful feeling of being pushed into
limbo.
When I joined 3 Jat at
Cooch Behar in April 1951, I found the working and living
environment in the infantry battalion very restrictive
and even, in some regards, suffocating. To top it all,
the senior command echelon comprised entirely of Jat
officers hailing from the same areas as the men. The few
non-Jat officers mainly in the junior ranks remained on
the periphery of the inner executive circle of the
battalion.
We had to, therefore,
apply ourselves with diligence to find a secure place in
the unit. With an eager effort, we turned to the basic
medium in which to set down our leadership roots
our soldiers. It was here that the credo learnt in the
Indian Military Academy, that after the pre-eminence of
the nation, the safety, welfare and comfort of the men we
lead, transcended all else, was truly followed. Our
genuine interest and concern for our men, opened the
doors of effective leadership. It was then that I
discovered the place deep down in the hearts of the men I
commanded. Its here that leaders are accepted and
followed come hell or high water. A mutual bonding
and an emotional romance took hold of me which was to
last the whole span of my service of nearly 35 years. My
simple and dour Jats taught me more of human care and
devotion than all the training I had undergone.
My soldiers had made it
possible for me to find the work I enjoyed or rather
loved. I had discovered my relevance in soldiering. Then
followed the knowledge of what was needed to sustain my
standing in the minds and hearts of the men I led. The
first building block was professional competence. I had
to know my job so well that my men looked upto me. The
second anchor was my own personal conduct, which would
always set the tone and provide a role model for my men.
It would not be an
exaggeration to state that the projection of a good
soldier leader is almost that of a demigod who can do no
wrong. Next is the ability to effectively communicate
with your men. While a word of mouth is the most often
used means, a subtle conveyance by a personal example
draws a lasting response.
Perhaps the most enduring
leadership qualities is a genuine interest in the care
and welfare of the men. All these attributes combine to
invest the leader with the mystique of charisma.
Acceptance by the men you
lead is a giant step forward in the successful exercise
of leadership especially in battle. Equally important, is
a good working relationship with the other end of the
equation, the boss. Committed hard work is the major key
that opens many doors of understanding and acceptance.
This reality was something which grew with my passage in
service. There were occasions when it was brought home
forcefully. After the successful completion of a
year-long course at the Defence Services Staff College, I
was posted as a Brigade Major to an independent artillery
brigade, located at Nasirabad, Rajasthan. Most of my
colleagues commisserated with me. The commander of the
brigade had a reputation of being a tough and hard
mouthed taskmaster with whom hardly any staff officer
lasted long. At Delhi, the litany of woes of my
predecessor left me even more apprehensive. When I joined
the brigade headquarters at Nasirabad, the Brigadier was
away on a conference. This opportunity to feel my way
around my new job and the working environment, did not
reassure me.
I was given the draft of a
tactical exercise without troops, prepared by a
regimental commander. The exercise was to be conducted at
Alwar for officers of the Delhi and Rajasthan area. This
is a training exercise in which troops do not participate
and syndicates of officers examine and discuss tactical
poblems in a particular operational, terrain and
situational setting.
The training medium is
designed to train officer leaders to evolve sound and
workable plans to operational problems in the field. The
draft exercise struck me as rather poor in concept and
content. Since I did not know the parameters given by the
Brigadier or the depth of the relationship of the
regimental commander with the Brigadier, I thought it
prudent to refrain from making any comment on the paper.
The Brigadier blew his top when he went through the
exercise papers, especially since we were to go to Alwar
the next morning to relate the exercise on the ground
chosen.
When asked for my opinion,
I once again chose prudence as the better part of valour.
Instead, I requested the Brigadier to tell me what he had
in mind and I would have a fresh draft ready before we
left at 6 a.m. the next morning. He was rather sceptical
but nevertheless outlined the task for me. As my wife had
not joined me in the new station, I called a typist to my
room in the officers mess. Over endless cups of
coffee, we worked throughout the night. By 5 a.m., a
100-page draft exercise, complete with guideline notes,
for conducting the discussions was ready. At 6 a.m. I
picked up the Brigadier to catch the train at Ajmer.
During the journey the
exercise was discussed and approved. At Alwar it was
harmonised on the ground. It was subsequently
successfully conducted as per the planned schedule.
Night-long hard work had opened the door towards building
trust and confidence between me and my new brigade
commander. Happily, I completed my full tenure under him.
The essential truth of the saying with which I started
had fruitfully come round full circle..
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