tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post8686287994791319728..comments2024-03-28T05:22:10.255-07:00Comments on Broadsword by Ajai Shukla - Strategy. Economics. Defence.: Pressing the reset button in MoDBroadswordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076780076240598482noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-13056441327126224932014-06-20T11:25:09.691-07:002014-06-20T11:25:09.691-07:00ahoy i have been trying to get one driver yes one ...ahoy i have been trying to get one driver yes one for my unit since last one year but have not been able to convince the gods of war--am i missing something or are we from different planetsjs bibrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00823757883716688043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-33894403186158911112014-05-29T19:22:29.867-07:002014-05-29T19:22:29.867-07:00Hope prorata remains........anyway with vkji in th...Hope prorata remains........anyway with vkji in the govt, the cavalry and sarath charge beginning later this year will come a cropper!! <br /><br /><br />..mudbloodnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-48085925076141794922014-05-28T05:44:42.995-07:002014-05-28T05:44:42.995-07:00How many troops does china employe in internal sec...How many troops does china employe in internal security duties like our rashtriya rifles ? Every officer and soldier in Indian army had been bloodied in anti-insurgency role.<br />This number is not accounted for.<br />We can blame Pakistan for Kashmir, what about north east, why is that always on fire ?<br />We are replacing poor governance by army there.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-33690612464024571612014-05-28T03:30:46.729-07:002014-05-28T03:30:46.729-07:00A fairly reasoned article. As the commentator at 1...A fairly reasoned article. As the commentator at 15:26 has pointed out, jointness and reduction of tail in the top levels of our military hierarchy needs to be sorted out before anything else. 4 or 5 star is irrelevant. Putting 10 stars on the shoulders does not make one any better a general. Clarity of function and reduction of seam lines is the need of the hour.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-41350714200265769292014-05-28T03:24:28.154-07:002014-05-28T03:24:28.154-07:00These are radical changes that have to be supporte...These are radical changes that have to be supported by the army, especially the officer corp because they will take longer to implement that the current govs current mandate. Is there support for this in IA, otherthan the retired guys? <br /><br />If you want to continue to attract the best, you either have to pay them really good salary or give them incentives like batmen/quality of life. If you take away the incentives and don't increase the salary the shortage of officers will increase.raw13noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-51413077752092447232014-05-28T02:29:13.091-07:002014-05-28T02:29:13.091-07:00Dear Col Shukla,
I find valid and well reasoned su...Dear Col Shukla,<br />I find valid and well reasoned suggestions in your article. I would however add an element of caution in undertaking the process of downsizing the Army. We must be careful to the fact that our equipment is old...very old and has been kept in running condition by the mechanic who probably would have many a time faced a spare crunch and substituted that with his ingenuity to make the equipment work. Military equipment has no civil parallels and skills hence too are not transferable. Take for example a typical Air Defence equipment which is a synthesis of mechanical, electronics, telecommunication and armament engineering. The skills required would be multifarious and specialized. The platforms if on aged tracked vehicles would further compound the complexity of maintaining them.It becomes difficult to think of a life without that mechanic. <br />Secondly,when we downsize we need to remember that we still have the task of protecting our nation. Replacing the duties with employment of technology would need acquisitions by the Army. No evidence of such high technology being developed within the nation or being acquired from elsewhere seems to be happening. The Chinese would have done that assessment and inducted to their Armed forces such capability before undertaking the downsizing. I am all for downsizing but not before modernization in tandem. Sudhirnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-86006137999903723682014-05-27T11:47:02.529-07:002014-05-27T11:47:02.529-07:00Someone said, when teeth don't know what to do...Someone said, when teeth don't know what to do with themselves, they start biting the tail. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-52789888470240208162014-05-27T04:19:05.890-07:002014-05-27T04:19:05.890-07:00Colonel,
- "raise the budget from 1.74 perce...Colonel, <br />- "raise the budget from 1.74 percent of GDP" = where is the money ?? <br />- "bloated manpower" = do you think Army Chief is less intelligent ??<br />- "move quickly in mountain warfare"- do you think mountain infrastructure will stand in a full scale warfare with china ?? <br />- "build mountain roads and connectivity" = before equip units with sufficient manpower and ammunition ?? Do you know how long it will take to build road/ equip units ??<br />- "Antony has shied away from developing indigenous companies" - You dont know anything about L&T, Tatas, Mahindra, Bharat Forge, etc are developing various equipments/systems ?? Or do you want a Lockheed Martin in 10 yrs??<br />- "Five star General"- somebody already commented it !!!<br /><br />Let me ask you Colonel are you sick ?? becoz standards of your articles about policy analysis are getting deteriorated !!<br /><br />Regards - an old soldier <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-57670490979979649772014-05-27T02:56:31.316-07:002014-05-27T02:56:31.316-07:00There teeth-to-tail ration is the single most pres...There teeth-to-tail ration is the single most pressing concern in the Indian military. <br /><br />No nation can afford to maintain such a large manned force on a permanent basis - especially not a developing economy like India. <br /><br />I would argue that there should be no "teeth-to-tail" ration itself and every soldier in the Army should be an infantryman first and foremost. ALL non-combat duties save intelligence and command should be made civil. <br /><br />Add to this the absurdity of having 3 separate logistic commands in all three services badly duplicates manpower. These should be made into a joint command as soon as possible. <br /><br />Lastly, the entire "general staff" structure in the Indian Army needs to be modernized from our present pre-WW1 system to a newer-leaner and more "joint" command structure of Theater combat commanders and rotating staff structure to distribute command and control into across the board. <br /><br />This will put to rest some of the civil-military tensions and soothe the IAS bureaucracy of not having to rely on the military's "self-restraint" to protect the democratic set-up of India. Unless the general staff in India are sorted out- the civll-military tensions will persist. Instead of fighting unitedly against an external threat, the present set-up forces us to fight two fronts - internally and externally. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-76320442407612734832014-05-27T02:18:25.436-07:002014-05-27T02:18:25.436-07:00Colonel Shukla,
Who does not know that long stand...Colonel Shukla,<br /><br />Who does not know that long standing narrow minded argument of yours - Give Army tanks rather than manpower, after tank buy BLTs then Buy ARV then buy AD, then Buy ACs for tanks, then buy soft drinks for the tanks .... all lastly make all tankmen the Genrals !! so that only 1/10 of the border is well guarded by tanks and remaining 9/10th of the border be given to police... so that they have no claim to Generalships ...<br /><br />Better give tankless borders to the NCC if not the locals as you advocate.<br /><br />Hell of a defense analyst you are !!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-43767356316028488952014-05-26T22:17:27.535-07:002014-05-26T22:17:27.535-07:00Colonel,
You and Brig. Gurmeet Kanwal are very ke...Colonel,<br /><br />You and Brig. Gurmeet Kanwal are very keen on having a CDS who is "FIVE STAR OFFICER". You both have been recommending this in every forum and channel, available.<br /><br />Shall I remind you that all other Chiefs of Defence Forces, all over the world, are "FOUR STAR OFFICERS". So, on what basis do you recommend this step? <br /><br />A five star officer would become too powerful in a democratic setup. Do you plan to create a Prussian General Staff in India? Or have you started learning from Pakistan? JD Raonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-86538354915330093982014-05-26T20:25:33.991-07:002014-05-26T20:25:33.991-07:00Col. Shukla, I have been waiting for this piece, e...Col. Shukla, I have been waiting for this piece, ever since the results of the elections became apparent May 16th. When everybody and their grandma has been making wishlists for Modi, the defense checklist needed to be added too. I am hopeful that PM Modi happens to read this well thought out and reasoned piece of yours. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com