COL MAHESH CHADHA (Retd)
JAWANS are said to be the best judge of officers, more so in the combat arms — Infantry, Armoured and Artillery regiments — where they serve together for very long in the same unit. As the officer after joining the unit rises in rank and status, from Lieutenant to Captain to Major and so on, so do the men from the ranks to JCOs, developing a life-long relationship.
Even though officers go out of the unit to attend long-duration courses of instructions or on staff appointments, they invariably return to the same unit after about two to three years. That is till an officer is promoted to the apex rank and appointment as CO, which takes 16 to 20 years, and leaves the unit for good to undertake other appointments.
Thus, over a period, men start judging their officers by their own well established yardstick of leadership qualities — not by precept but by practice, forecasting their future. An officer’s physical toughness reveals itself while undergoing BPET (battle physical efficiency test) that involves a 5-km run, crawling through extremely lowly laid concertina wire obstacles, etc. His skill at arms is tested at the ranges while firing along with men his personal and team weapons. His learning prowess is seen while performing duties of a gunner — carrying and loading a 20-kg shell of a tank or positioning a cumbersome base plate of a howitzer or a mortar much before the laid-down parameters; or taming an unwilling mule to harness it.
His technical keenness is observed while lying under the tank with hands and face smeared with grease and oil. The mental robustness is tested during night watch and inclement weather while manning posts in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East borders and during long-range patrols across some inhospitable terrain, snow-clad mountains or the sweltering deserts of Rajasthan — indefatigably leading 20-30 men self-contained for two to three weeks, carrying his own stuff, rations, weapon and ammunition.
The professional competence is judged by his performance during courses and competitions, joint exercises with other arms and services, as also when he is given charge to conduct classes to prepare the men for promotion to the next rank. His sportsmanship and team spirit are viewed at his skill in snatching a win for the unit. His jurisprudence comes to the fore during operational tasks when he factually establishes whether the jawan deserves an award or punishment for an act of omission or commission — dispensing justice.
His character is known by professional and personal integrity, punctuality and meaningful conduct during social gatherings, mess and other regimental functions. The humane aspect is judged when he despatches a strongly worded letter to the Deputy Commissioner or the Superintendent of Police to look into the problems faced by a jawan in his village — water from a nearby canal or an electric connection to his house or delivery of due benefits to his old non-earning parents, or taking to task some scoundrel casting an evil eye on his assets.
Displaying all this and more at every step, an officer to be accepted as an undisputed leader proves his nerve during a difficult situation — rescuing his men unscathed.
No astrologer can foretell an officer’s move up the ladder — Colonel to Brigadier to Major General and so on. It matters little though if the jawans, your comrades in arms, hold you in high regard. That is the highest compliment.