Military Literature Festival: ‘Big, small units have specific roles in anti-terror ops’

Chandigarh, December 3

Both large forces and small special force units have their own pros and cons in carrying out operations in a counter-insurgency environment.

Stating this while speaking at a session on ‘Large force or small lithe units, which are more effective in handling modern insurgencies’, at the Military Literature Festival here today, Maj Gen Ashok Dhingra said that there was no fixed formula or one size fits all solution in this arena.

Small teams, he said, have the advantage of surprise and are tasked to target the insurgent leadership, which addresses the problem to a large extent. By developing the ability to merge with the local population, they are also ideal for generating intelligence, but by being small in size, they cannot remain self-sufficient for long and need support bases to operate from.

He said the Army has been engaged in counter-insurgency operations since early 1950s and has emerged as a good role mode.