Editor's Note
My recent interaction with some serving senior instructors of NDA once again validated/ratified my research findings and conclusions on NDA. Sadly , those who are posted in NDA and in charge of training of cadets are unable to understand /grasp / comprehend the seriousness of certain crux/ key issues that have plagued and harmed NDA for decades and hence unable to collectively address them .
This continuing ' grim situation' has compelled me to jot down just ten critical points for immediate review and rectification.
So much has been written about NDA by so many ,yet the system is unable to extract the best out of it to benefit NDA . Apparently, there is a problem in the mindset / perception to see things in the correct perspective!
Ten (10) points that highlight the crux issues of NDA that need to be immediately reviewed and acted upon are as follows :
1. Official/ structured training is NOT complimented by unofficial/ non structured training .
2. Squadron traditions /priorities take precedence to Sudan block official policy.
3. There are too many stakeholders /commandants!
4. Low physical fitness levels of new entrants especially of non - military and sainik schools.
5. Overall, it is a non-scientific physical training regime with little or no recovery/ recuperation.
6. The number of PT periods and authorised PTstaff do not cater for achieving laid down standards for mandatory/ higher tests .This leads to unofficial/ non structured training under squadrons that strive for higher / unachievable standards .
7. Weak and injured cadets are not attended to or cared for, leading to high wastage rates ,injuries, and disabilities.
8. Although academics has 70% of official periods for training, during 24 hrs cycle, military type training is given 70% time / effort .
9. The importance of PoP and methodology of imparting drill training causes stress fractures and leads to a high wastage rate .
10. The faulty punishment policy needs a drastic review with a human and practical approach .
Frank / honest answers to these ten points will surely throw up the true picture about NDA .
Nixon Fernando, who has spent years in NDA as a very dedicated, devoted ,committed lecturer and counselor, has in this article painstakingly elaborated and amplified these ten critical points . These need to be read ,reviewed, and acted upon for the good of NDA and India's future military leadership.
Col Vinay Dalvi,
Editor MVI
POSITIVE ACTIONABLE POINTS FOR THE NDA LEADERSHIP TOWARDS ITS PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE
A soldier is more comfortable in saying ‘Hukum’ than in reading huge amounts of literature to cull out what can be done or should be done. A recent encounter of the Editor of Mission Victory India, Col Vinay Dalvi, with a senior leader in the NDA resulted in the listing out of ten points on which the leadership at the academy can focus upon in its quest for excellence. This incidentally is a very concentrated form of the ‘approach paper’ which was presented all the way up to the Joint Chiefs and the defence minister himself, and though some action was initiated, not much change has happened on ground. So, are we back at square one? Not really, there is, now, a huge volume of literature on what can be done, which consists of inputs from a huge spectrum of thinking and experienced soldiers and experts. Here is an elaboration on what can be done in respect of the ten points of focus at the academy which Col Dalvi has listed.
Let it be clear, at the outset, that we get some of the best talents of the Nation to join the NDA. Our ballroom dance instructor had this to say about the abilities of NDA cadets: “This is special to the NDA: None of the practice sessions will go right and these cadets will be all over the place in the practices, but when it is the final show, they carry it off perfectly. This happens always.” This is a crude way to sum it up. But the fact of the matter is that the system of selection and the talent pool from which the SSB gets to choose, ensures that most cadets come with an excellent ‘ready for action’ attitude. When it is crunching time, they can stand and deliver. As Bruce lee says in Enter the Dragon. “When it comes to a fight, I do not get tense; I become ready”. They generally possess a presence of mind that is a gift in any situational challenge. But along with the smartness you also get ‘extra smartness’; when it is used for ‘funny’ things a bunch of youngsters, full of energy, can do. It spells out as mischief—of unimaginable measure sometimes...
Many of them, if not most, come with the primary aim of being soldiers; soldiers of the kind who rise selflessly in the defence of those they must defend. It gets probably fed into them in their families and through other influence in the younger days. And despite the disillusionment they sometimes experience, in the ‘training’ process, especially in the ‘extra’ training, many of them retain their inspiration to serve in the ‘service of Arms’.
But there are hurdles to cross and the institution called NDA, which is supposed to nurture these young minds, which is supposed to increase the idealism, is supposed to equip them with knowledge and skills, sometimes fails to do its job and that calls to question whether everything that is done at the NDA is worth it. Is this a college or a training institute? If it is a training institute, then is a three-year exposure really required? All these and so many other questions need to be answered each time the training at the NDA is reviewed. And based on the decisions made it needs to be ensured that the executives stick to the plan. But this is where the problem probably lies…
Let us look at this through the ten points highlighted by Col Dalvi.
Ten (10) points that highlight the crux issues of NDA that need to be immediately reviewed and corrected:
1. Official/ structured training is NOT complimented by unofficial/ non structured training.
This is one hundred percent true. The official picture is 70% academics and 30% training. On ground it seems to be worse than the opposite (some people would term it as better than the opposite). Most of the unstructured training happens in the Squadrons. And there is a problem here. The structured training calls for a reasonable two or three hours of physical activity each day at the most, but all the extra training that happens makes this look like a small fraction of the physical training that really happens.
2. Squadron traditions / priorities take precedence to Sudan block official policy.
There is one Academy policy. Then there are orders coming from the commandant that could affect significant changes at the academy level. In this the academy has the flexibility to adapt to changes, situations, developments etc... But on the downside, it has led to what people refer to as flip-flops in policy. The correction for this seems to be a tradition that is developed in West Point or one of the western military schools. ‘The change in policy can be brought into effect only in the tenure of the next commandant.’ We should consider adopting this into our system too. However, the squadron traditions too have a big say. The squadron traditions are driven by the cadets who live in that squadron, the officers who are posted there, and finally the orders that come from Sudan block. All in all, this becomes the substratum on which the ‘squadron traditions’ are built. And there are, ultimately, as many sets of traditions as there are squadrons. Speaking of flip flops at the commandant level Mr. TN Seshan thought that it is a blessing: 'let one group of cadets be trained this way and let another group be trained the other way … so we get soldiers who are trained in both ways. So that improves the diversity in the leadership, and it is a blessing to the armed forces.’ It is an interesting take and therefore could we say, let that diversity in the squadron traditions exist, as it ensures diversity in the skills and aptitudes of the would-be officers, and it makes the armed forces that much richer. But then how do we ensure that the mandate of the Sudan Block is not recklessly overrun by the ’traditions’ in the squadrons?
3. There are too many stakeholders / commandants!
This is natural in a sense that in a military set up, each person commands a group under him. And this works all the way to the top. And we are training our solders handle that responsibility at excellence so that the command is excellent all the way to the top. But the academy does not provide properly for a single line of command going up from a cadet in the first term to the top. Each cadet is answerable to ‘n’ different people at the same time. For example, when he moves from the science block to the Mess, he encounters a line of sergeants and may be the ACC and some JCO’s on the way. Each one asking him to do ten push ups for instance (I am being extreme here) and the cadet will encounter sergeants and six termers in the squadron. And some officers too… each of them asking for their share of push-ups and the cadet is left a mess by the end of the day. So, everyone is ordering him to do push-ups but there is no one who calls up the cadet in the evening and asks him as to how many push-ups he did that day. (so, are we teaching the sergeants, ‘all command and no responsibility’?)
The officers who have served at the units know how it works. When a junior steps up to obey your command, you have tremendous moral responsibility. It is best explained in one tradition that was practiced in the British Indian Army. A young British officer has returned with his company/platoon from a long march. One of the first tasks he is asked to do is to get all his men to remove their shoes and he must check their foot for any blisters or injuries. And that too not at long range, he is supposed to take their foot in his palms and then check each of them. May be this was to induct the Christian value of washing the disciples’ feet (Maundy Thursday) in the relationship. But that is how the whole idea of a Command-care loop is effectively complete. A good armed force would ensure that commanding another junior is not an ego trip or a threat of dire consequences, it is about a team that is out to do something really challenging which could even have fatal consequences—own or enemies. A good force and its excellent leadership should be one that cares even as it commands.
There was a system earlier in the academy when a third term cadet was assigned a first term cadet, and therefore in the third term the cadet was made the leader of one. Group Captain Chacko has described this in an article in Victory India. But this system was removed some time down the line probably because these first termers ended up as being slaves to their ‘leaders’; being subjected to all kinds of extremes that one could imagine. And now that system is not in action anymore. There is no one keeping an eye on him, he is left to his own means, and he is taught pride in bearing it like a man… and when he ends up in MH Khadakwasla everyone resorts to ‘hope’ that he does not get boarded out. And this underlying threat of getting thrown out of the academy sometimes becomes the foundation for the ‘threat’ factor used in ensuring of obedience on command in the academy… and it is not entirely healthy.
In any case, the matter of too many commandants has to do with too many people having very different ideas on how to train themselves and their juniors, and in a military environment of command-and-obey they implement their own ideas with relish. True that one learns as one tries out his funny ideas and succeeds or fails in it, but what if it is done at the cost of sending some junior to MH?
A system needs to be evolved to ensure that a safety net is there in place and just as a cadet learns to command and obey, he also experiences watchful eyes that ensures that he is on a positive spiral in terms of health and gets a lot of own time to develop his interests and skills.
4. Low physical fitness levels of new entrants especially of non - military and sainik schools.
This problem was sought to be resolved through the setting up a separate institute at Ghorpadi for the first term cadets so that even the cadets who were low in physical fitness level were brought to speed in a protected environment where adequate time for rest and recovery was ensured. But that was discontinued, and we now have a system where the new cadets are put into the same hot pot as the rest of the cadets and so the weak cadets do not get sufficient time to get on par with their better course mates. This can be resolved in two ways, one is to raise the standards at intake itself, or alternatively give the selectees time to work on passing the basic tests by training themselves before they report to the academy. If neither of this is done, how could we ensure that the first term cadets are allowed to take it easy so that they can work in tandem with time for recovery, in a scientific manner, and they could be on par with the others to take on the official training at the academy?
5. Overall, it is a non-scientific physical training regime with little or no recovery/ recuperation.
This is what it boils down to: squadron cross country practice immediately after dinner. This is just one of the absurdities. One way of solving it is to officially set up a PT syllabus and make it mandatory for cadets to pass this paper if they are to be promoted. This one small step can improve the Physical Fitness of the armed forces by a huge leap down the line. The absurd ideas practiced in the squadron have the probability of being implemented in part or whole on the men under the officers’ (who learnt as cadets at the squadrons) in the units. That is a kind of disaster that is happening even today.
It is academy history that adding the influence of a sports medicine specialist military doctor to the Golf squadron, resulted in Golf squadron dominating in the Inter squadron competition for years after that. You cannot get better proof that scientific training improves the outcome of training (refer to inputs by Dr. Meharanjli Bade to victory India). Scientific training is required, and influences related to excellence in working on the physique must become part of all squadron traditions. The academy must think innovatively to achieve this. If it takes a huge investment, so be it. How can you put a cost on inducing proper physical training attributes, skills, attitudes, and knowledge in the training of the bulk of the leadership of the armed forces?
6. The number of PT periods and authorised PTstaff do not cater to achieving laid down standards for mandatory/ higher tests .This leads to unofficial/ non structured training under squadrons that strive for higher / unachievable standards .
Here again the academy should not look at costs as a barrier. Scientific Physical Training will help. A written paper on Physical Training to be passed by the cadets would also help. The traditions in the squadrons must be reviewed by the squadron commanders and the Battalion Commanders with the help of experts in the field of Psychology, Sports Medicine, leadership training and Academics so that each squadron leader (leader in the squadron) knows what is best for his squadron and is able to ensure that his command down under understands how it is done in his squadron.
7. Weak and injured cadets are not attended to or cared for, leading to high wastage rates, injuries, and disabilities.
This falls back to the issue of the absence of ‘be the leader of one’ tradition. There must be some way to ensure unity of command in the squadron so that the cadets learn ‘all’ the dimensions of nurturing the juniors as well. At this point it is apt to think of those who claim that ‘if the cadet can’t take it and lands up sick, he might as well leave’. In a way it is right, but in other ways it may be wrong. We may lose out on sincere cadets who stretch themselves too much when the others are shaming it out. So then are we saying that to survive one needs to learn the art of shamming? Again, this does not serve to induct the right values in the cadets. Is there a need to run the academy like a commando school? Two months commando training is ok. But three years?! There are limits… and we want military leaders with well-rounded personalities. Rest, recovery, own time, relaxed phases, self-initiative, are all part and parcel of what needs to be there, apart from those patches of intense work outs that test the limits of one’s endurance (both, physical and mental).
8. Although academics has 70% of official periods for training, during 24 hrs cycle, military type training is given 70% time / effort.
The fact that it is one thing on paper and another thing on ground leads to the cadets getting a very wrong idea in their minds in the first military institution they get deeply associated with— “Officially something and unofficially something else”. One ACC was pulled up because he was illegally punishing a junior cadet at a location where he was not supposed to. He was carrying on with the idea that he could defy the Adjutant’s orders when he was dealing with cadets junior to him. In his nearly three years at the academy, being selected to be among the best cadets in his batch, he carried this impression that it was normal to defy official orders when dealing with people under his command. This kind of thing happens even at the level of officers and Commandant’s orders. On one side it allows for military leadership to on-the-sly cross over to the Pakistani side and return after finishing an encounter, without the articulated (but may be the tacit) approval of the Government. But does that mean that one can defy standing orders, Commandant’s orders, or Adjutant’s orders in the academy? I believe that the best leaders are those who shoot straight… if something is official then that is the way it should be. If something is kept on the sly it should be done with the approval of the authority that passed the law in the first place. As for exceptions, the one acting on ground should be able to stand up for what he has done. As an officer acting on behalf of the President of India, he can use his official powers to overwrite an established law at his discretion. But the key is that he must stand up for it and explain to authority why he did so. Except for this, in all other cases, it must be ‘official’. If something is to be implemented then either the laws in the book need to be changed or then the training must reflect the picture that is painted on paper, faithfully.
9. The importance of PoP and methodology of imparting drill training causes stress fractures and leads to a high wastage rate.
One thing good about drill is that a participant obeys of his own volition. Otherwise ‘threat’ must be used to make a cadet obey, as we have seen earlier. A competitive spirit, and a need to display perfection before an external audience inspires action and willingness to participate, with energy, on such occasions. This overall picture is not healthy really: though the willingness to obey in a parade relates to ‘being a willing spoke’ obedience to orders out of fear of being hounded out of the academy through the MH route, is not good… The concept of ‘dharma’ expects that a Cadet must obey because it is his duty (Dharma) to do so. This concept has deep connotations to the spirit, and it comes on display when a squadron performs at excellence at a parade. No wonder that there is a separate sanctity to the ‘parade ground’. But indeed, what is the need to stomp so hard when less vigorous methods are available to achieve the same spirit? This needs deep introspection, and we must keep the baby, and there is bath water that can be dispensed with.
10. The faulty punishment policy needs a drastic review with a human and practical approach.
Surely the entire system needs to be reviewed thoroughly and must be up to date. The system must be regularly reviewed with inputs of the most advanced scientific methods in diverse fields that can throw light on all aspects concerning excellence in Military affairs; but it must be done in consonance with the rich military traditions that are available in the units of the Indian armed forces. The outcome of these reviews being of advisory nature to the decision makers within the academy.
Overcoming The Overall Grim Picture
Looking at the overall picture it seems sensible to take Mr. TN Seshan’s advice and let the squadrons have their diverse traditions. But those traditions must be written ones that cannot be flouted by the members of that squadron.
Ultimately if we think of the NDA as an exalted college cum training institution, we could look on the squadrons as the ‘home’ the cadets return to every day. Now this home should nurture the cadets as in a home and each home can have its own diverse traditions. Like the British do not have a written constitution, we could allow the squadrons to do as they please in tandem with what they see as tradition. Or in the Indian manner we could articulate a constitution; let each squadron come up with a written form of the traditions it is going to follow. The exercise could be a one-time affair. All sixth term cadets must be tasked, as a team, to draft the handbook of traditions of the squadron. The handbook of each squadron can be put up for advice to experts in psychology, spirituality, sports medicine, military leadership, academics and training. The squadron leadership, under the guidance of the Battalion commander can then issue it. Once issued the stake holders in the squadron go by the book. The violation of the ‘home’ traditions should not be allowed for the members of that ‘home’.
This might work. Every passing out course will have the opportunity to review the traditions and make amendments if necessary, using the ‘ruling by consent’ method. If such tradition handbooks are drafted, then the Officer leadership in the squadrons, who are authorized to review those amendments, should ensure that the wellbeing of every future leader of the armed forces is taken care of in the ‘home’ they are taking care of. This could bring some method in the madness.
These ten points, if addressed, can lead to huge positive outcomes that can raise the stature of the Academy to even greater heights. It can prosecute its mandate better. But it is better to refer to the full-length paper called as the ‘Approach Paper’ and if team NDA works on it, the outcomes can be even better.
All for good.
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