Attributes Of Indian Military LeadershipPart-2 By Group Capt A. G. Bewoor VM(G)

1.    Why Do They Not Resign? How a Three Star general of yesterday, can brand today’s generalship as “weak”, without taking a major part of the blame upon himself baffles logic. Many Veteran Authors, VAs, have argued in public debates on erosion of status of officers, substandard weaponry, unfair pay & pensions and other problems have been permitted to happen only because of poor generalship. What is the weakness, poverty of thought and deeds, that all our serving generals / admirals / air marshals have demonstrated? Which of our pensions are not exactly what we deserve? Let us not get embroiled into the OROP quarrel. There are powers extraneous to serving and veteran generals that have messed up the OROP issue. How have these serving leaders failed if desired weapons have not come into service?

Does a public debate on matters military signify the collapse of our military process that in truth is still robust? The VAs who powerfully vilify today’s senior military commanders, need to take a tax break, and hold back their free flowing criticism because that disapproval and unfavourable judgment is very much applicable to each one of them in good measure.  When this dawns on them, as it must, then a thorough re-look at their accusations will be made.

Many VAs glibly exhort the Chiefs and their immediate juniors to threaten resignations masse, if weapons are not bought, if civil-military equations are not reinstated, if salaries and pensions are not raised to the demanded levels. How many of these VAs were willing to put in their papers if their Divisions / Corps / Armies did not get what they personally had demanded from their Chief?  Chiefs of Armed Forces do not resign; one Chief did, and was persuaded by political-bureaucratic powers to rescind his decision, with abundant embarrassment. Civil servants resign, general managers resign, district collectors resign, judges resign, police commissioners resign, vice chancellors resign, train drivers resign, bus conductors resign, but Chiefs of India’s Air Force / Army / Navy do not resign, they stay on to fight for their Service. Always.       

2.    Seniority or Selection?  Lamenting about Seniority versus Selection to the appointment of a Chief is another favourite theme for VAs. The bottom line always is that the Govt selects the man who is weak, malleable, has secrets to hide, barks more than bites, seeks post-retirement gratification, has an average service record and is not likely to rock the boat and demand too much.  Thus the VAs are swift in damning anyone who is appointed Chief, but is not the senior most Lt Gen.  For them the stark dictum is;  Seniority is always paramount and must overwhelm all else, including touchstones like war / battle experience, personal conduct, ability to integrate matters of national dimensions into the military canvas and his measurable performance while in Three Star positions.  For them, the senior most of all Lt Gens / Vice Admirals / Air Marshals must become the next Chief come what may. For if that does not happen, it means that the one who is appointed Chief has tweaked the system, sucked up to the politico-bureaucratic combine, will sell the Service down the river, and will canvas for a lucrative post-retirement diplomatic /gubernatorial posting.  They then talk of General Thimayya as one hell of a strong general, and that people like him are sadly not there, the gentle hint that some of these VAs belong to the Thimayya strain, should not be missed by the readers. The fact is that Thimayya superseded two Lt Gens to become COAS in 1957 when India was just 10 years old. The cabinet of that time, 1957, did not hesitate to make a selection to appoint an Army Chief, even though the previous three Army Chiefs were senior most Lt Gens when they were made COAS.

There was no hesitation or fear in the hearts of the political leadership that selecting Thimayya would upset and demoralise the Indian Armed Forces. Yet today, such action in a robust 77 year old republic is stigmatised as demoralising? Detect and notice the dichotomy and incongruity of the philosophy being promoted by these VAs, is it in harmony with their distressed writings about poor general-ship? The irony is that the veterans, who deplore and bewail the disregard for seniority in the appointment of Chiefs, have themselves superseded many seniors in their journey from Colonels to Lt Gens.

That is of course quite in order according to them; after all they had proven their superior capabilities when compared to their seniors, who they superseded. But this method of selecting the best cannot be applied for making Chiefs? Unusually odd logic that defies analytical inference, which is expected from veterans. In all countries, whether with pluralistic or controlled societies and systems, not just military, but all apex appointees, are selected by highest decision making bodies in that country, and the chosen person need never be the senior most serving man. How can the VAs who have exhausted much energy in questioning the process of appointing Chiefs ignore and disregard this truth? Much of the writings of VAs who are belittling and condemning today’s generalship, can be safely cast away; simply because the accusations with their defects, demerits, fractures and flaws cannot stand scrutiny of cold logic. Besides, how can the flawed leadership of our current generals be singled out for criticism, without the VAs taking upon themselves most of the blame for this malady? They are the ones who have trained, nurtured, and promoted these incompetent officers from Captains to Lt Gens. This is their brand of leadership?

3.    Self Contemplation and Inward Examination. How intensely with serious contemplation have these VAs examined the indictment they have proffered on their successors? The first thought that must spurt is that the Power to Abuse is much more Fearful than the Abuse of Power, and this Power to Abuse has been exercised brutally by them. War has been defined as a Trade for the Soldier, a Profession for the Officer, but to the General it is an Art. An Art that blossoms by intellectually discerning and sympathetically interpreting the Trade of the Soldier and the Profession of the Officer. All this takes much effort, has that effort been put in before the indictments made by our VAs? For the Lt Gen who did not become Chief, the pertinent advice is, Teach Me to Win if I may, but if I may Not Win, then above all, Teach Me To Be a Good Loser, and it applies to all of us who radicalise the non-adherence to seniority, when Chiefs are appointed. Before veterans hurriedly hit the Send button, pause and reflect that in all professions, more so in the Armed Forces, Character is of greatest importance, much more than brains and experience.

By branding Indian generalship as incompetent, slavish, gutless the VAs have denounced their own ability to wage and win wars. How can these veterans forget that should this state of affairs indeed be true, then these very VAs have failed to train their successors during peace, so who has shown incompetence? Truly the security of a military formation lies in Resolution of the general to do it right, every time, even when no one is looking, and is the cornerstone of generalship. But so many generals do not wish to recognise this fundamental foundation, because there is so much comfort in not knowing the substructure of leadership. As is so often quoted, Comment is Free while Facts are sacred. Holding an apex appointment assures the freedom to comment at any time on any subject with a controlled captive audience, who seek both knowledge and wisdom from the general. But do remember, Knowledge tells us that a Tomato is a Fruit, but Wisdom cautions; you do not put Tomatoes in a Fruit Salad. Many of us veterans are guilty of relentlessly and bare-facedly commending themselves for many things that cannot honestly be placed into a bowl of success. But behind the screen of retirement such bombast goes uncontested, and that pretension is pardoned by others. Regrettably we forget that generosity and we persevere in overstating our achievements, is in truth a useless activity, as we all know that Being Useful is the Rent we must Pay for taking up Room on Earth.

Our inward scrutiny has to reveal this bitter truth about spreading poison. The wise say that the Poison of a Scorpion is in its Tail, that of a Fly is in its Head, of a Snake in its Fangs, but the Poison of a Man the Poison is in his Whole Body. The restraint that we need to entertain in our speech, words, declamations, arguments, interjections, must fulfil the universal acceptance that Discontent is Senseless. It destroys our ability to discriminate? Our “viveka” gets disrupted?

4.    What Do We Truly Want? Many generals/admirals/air marshals are abundantly capable of conquest, but admirably unskilled and unequal to running an empire. That is the ditch which most VAs fall into when chastising the current crop of apex military leadership. Running an empire means first of all finding the correct successor and preparing him for that succession, in that venture these slandering VAs have failed. Smearing those who are today filling the posts they held yesterday, is unacceptable in any hierarchy and certainly not in the Armed Forces.

One glaring cause for this grim painting of today’s generals is because of the Open Assessment culture that exists in our Army, not in the IAF or Navy, but that subject is too big to delve into. If indeed generalship / admiralship / airmarshalship in our Services is as fractured and bankrupt as avowed by these VAs, and it has been so for the last few decades, then how come the Indian Army still fights and wins? Why are aircraft not falling out of the skies like leaves during ‘patjhad’? Why are Navy’s ships not floundering and sinking in the oceans? A pertinent reason is that we love to confidently declare others washing as dirty, not realising that we are looking at it through, our own unclean windows.