The Defence College Experience

I have seen:-

a) The officer selected to lead the Pakistan Army parade in Karachi on 14th August 1947, rushing on to join the Indian Army a few days later and facing his own regiment a few months later.

b) The grandson of the most recognised North Eastern (Nagaland, Phizo) separatist that India had, dying (IED) in Baramulla, Kashmir, wearing an Indian Army uniform.

c) The ongoing relationship between serving senior Indian and Pakistani Armed Forces officers while abroad.

d) The existence of a joint IAF/PAF fighter pilot`s group in Australia. Rumours of Middlecoat surfacing have been around for decades now.

Anybody here read Bunker 13 by Anirudhha Bahl?

re: 52

it takes more than 2-3 top army men. you pretty much need all the pso`s, head of the isi + majority of corps commanders on board. the pindi brigade is 111. but that`s ok, you are a shaheen and a pretty disgruntled one at that.

re:#21 by Maharana
You should tell our ``closet mullah`` (tahmed sahib, i say this with due apologies) what happened to the decision to send troops to Iraq. The latest is: India is not sending the troops. After much opposition and introspection, India has decided to say Sorry but NO. What about Pak? Mushy committed soon after Camp David to send troops. There was no debate. NO debate is necessary. In Pak, Army has the country and not the other way round.
Sridhar

hnasir # 57

You are absolutelt right about the perks etc.

Indian threat is projected in a manner to create a bigger Army.

In my opinion, there is no external threat to Pakistan.

The two threats to its security are both internal: (a) Military`s meddling in politics (b) Mullas meddling in politics.

ijaz_gul #45: I think you misunderstood my remarks, or I did not state them correctly, perhaps.

I am the biggest fan of the Pakistani military soldier - the sepoy to the rank of Colonel. I have lost quite a few close friends to military deaths. There is on one in Pakistan whom I have more respect for than the jawan sitting on the border, or the pilot risking his life. IN term of dedication to their land, these guys are a different breed from the rest of us. I say this as someone who once belonged to this breed, and no longer does. So I understand their dedication to the land very clearly.

Only a special person can risk his life to protect others. This is true for soldiers of all countries. These guys (mostly in their 20s and early 30s) are protecting our families, while we are living it up in North America, and (ironically) criticizing them. In my opinion, they deserve our gratitude, not our criticism. My life as an IT professional abroad is far easier than my life in the military.

The Pakistani soldier faces more risks than most soldiers of the world, since he always faces a much larger force. That is why survey after survey by in Pakistan, and by international organizations like the recent Davos survey, ranks the military as the most respected organization in the country. And no one, including the most opportunistic politicians ever criticizes the jawan and young officers. They only criticize the Generals (which I do also).

Something tends to happen around the rank of Brigadier. The same dedicated Colonels start transitioning into beaurecratic Generals, who are no different from their civilian counterparts. Even worse, these Generals end up hogging all the resources of the Army, leaving the rest of the force living hand to mouth.

There are very very few intellectuals in the command branches of the military, i.e. flying, infantry, armour, etc. However, most of these individuals consider themselves to be intellectuals when they become Generals (or when they retire). One cannot, all of a sudden, become an intellectual just by getting promoted or by retiring. It requires a certain amount of IQ and education and experience. My friends in PIA and other civilian areas are as stupid (or as intelligent) now as they were when they left the military. And I have friends who I know will become Generals someday, who have never had an original thought in their lives.

This does not mean the military does not have intellectuals. There are some extremely qualified and world-travelled officers in the Engineering, Medical etc. type of branches. I have quite a few coursemates in the military who have MS and Ph.D. degrees and are brighter than nearly all my friends in Silicon Valley. However, these guys aren`t in the command branches - maybe because they don`t want to, or are too scared to go into battle (Army engineers do go). They are professors at training institutions, surgeons, researchers in Kahuta, etc. Thus they have not developed command skills and will not become Generals.

I think the criteria for becoming a General needs to be changed, since times have changed. There needs to be combination of academic and command experience. And the academic experience should be in good civilian universities, preferably abroad. However, there are hardly any individuals in the command branches, who could handle that kind of academic load.

I never went to any Defence college so I can`t comment on what is taught there. I doubt it is of very high standard, because hardly any of the academic institutions in Pakistan, providing executive level training, has anything of high standard. Infact I don`t know of any such institution in Pakistan. What I do know is that the training institutions at the junior ranks are quite good. NUST is ranked as the best university in Pakistan by Asian magazines, and one of the top 20 in Austral-Asia. College of Aeronautical Engg. has a higher standard of students than most US universities. Army Medical College is one of the best in Pakistan. The flying training for cadets in PAF is world famous. I have been to some of these places and can speak from experience.

However, the standards for senior officers need to be greatly improved. And the pays of junior officers need to be greatly improved, because anyone who has some qualifications will leave the military (like I did) and like many of friends want to. I cannot blame them, since they are so poorly looked after in comparison to my colleagues in the civilian world.

I would say Pakistan has some of the most dedicated young officers and jawans in the world, and some very good training institutions at the juior level. And probably some of the most incompetent Generals (specifically in the Army) in the world. I have noticed that about the Colonel level people reach a plateau, and never seem to evolve beyond that. I don`t think this changes whether one remains in the military or resigns.

Jay # 46

I always mention it. Some time back, my whole article titled ``Preventing Military Take Overs`` appeared on Chowk. Please read it. Even Post # 47 says so. Incidently, poor Air Force and Navy play no role in it.

The Defence College syllabus should be drastically revised to contain only the military matters - otherwise you will continue to churn ourt semi-educated national planners from military like me.

No extraordinary courage is required to state this fact.

Ansari # 48

You are one person I will be happy to be stranded with on a lonely island. Listen to your poetry and watch with amusement the boats of some fiery interactors pass by.

Anything to do with military or religion is a good dish for the Chowkees. So far I have been avoiding it - this not being my favourite subject. I just let this one pass in.

Dear Nazar,

Would you be kind enough and opine on the following:

Our basic problem is not the Army itself; but the bloated corps of some 200 Maj. Generals, Lt. Generals and above.

The Army is an organized institution and its size is determined by the Indian threat as percieved in the context of Kashmir.

The size of the Army perhaps justifies about 30 2-Star+ Generals; we had 22 of them during the 1971 war.

But instaed of 30 we have 200 of the suckers. Most of them are not needed. You will find them manning useless directorates in the GHQ, leading formations that exist on paper only, or ``auctioned`` into civil institutions from PIA, KESC, Customs, Wapda, Irrigation, Cricket Board etc. Some of the special favorites are sent to FC and Rangers to spin in some more cash.

The ``Legal`` perks of a Major General have an intrisic Value of about RS 6.5 Million per year. In addition, a Brigadier is entitled to 2 Plots of Land with current market Value of about Rs 10 Million. Upon each ``Star`` promotion he is allotted even more land and other goodies.

In addition, they skim away on average about 30-40% of the Defense procurement Budget of some $ 350 M every year. Thats almost $ 90 M of bribes every year. Assuming that about 30% are monetarily honest; this amounts of an average Black Money income of Rs 35 M per head every year.

These days most of the promotions take place on the sex appeal of the officer`s wife; or his ability to procure women for the carnal pleasures of the promotion Board members or selected 3-Star mentors. Lt Gen Zarrar Azeem, Corps Commander lahore is considered to be an encylclopedia of the prostitution and call-girls industry ... Gen Muasharraf savors the pleasures of Lahore for at least 2 weekends a month. Some of the Brigadiers begin arranging ``Encounters`` between their wives and seniors at a very early stage ... giving rise to some comic (true) anecdotes .. but they must be censored here.

The growing role of American Military and FBI in Pakistani establishment is also a serious cause of concern; as some of our generals are virtually on their payroll; or captives to their interests. Our Generals are endowed with ``Canine`` sense of Loyality to the white skin and are happy to go to any extent to please their new found Masters. Amongst the most disgraceful in this department is Maj Gen Sadaqat of FC Quetta.

The legal take home income of a Maj Gen is about $ 600; about Rs 33,000 after deductables and Tax. Some of these johnies afford the education of two kids in the USA coting them a minimum of $ 50,000 every year. But they just dont seem to have any problems with that.

http://www.balochistanpost.com/reply.asp?Page=1&ID=4913

A little bit more:

An interesting point put forward by some Raja Ibrahim on the discussion forum of the SAT. “By the way how can one respect/like or not hate those who can ignite an ammunition depot in the middle of a city of 1 million to cover up their own loot. Yeah, I am talking about Ojhri Camp. See, India (and Pakistan too) avoided civilian targets during 1965 and 1971. But our own generals didn’t mind putting a big city on fire themselves.
And you still talk about everything else but not the real crooks and have the courage/guts to defend/condone them.
I am sad, extremely sad to observe this inexplicable callousness.”

Before some of gentlemen start their typical emotional blackmailing about soldiers defending the motherland, risking their lives and so on, I would like to pre-emptively add:

I have absolutely NOTHING against poor guys standing guard on our borders while we sleep. I SALUTE them. Actually, some people tend to forget the tragic facts that those who lay down their lives on the borders are not who get awards and plots. In some cases we don’t even accept their dead bodies (remember NLI and Kargil). Many true Shaheeds normally don’t even get proper burial.
As someone wrote on South Asia Tribune, begum of a general with aching back has much higher priority at a CMH than that of a hawaldar from the LOC with Indian bullet in his chest.
See, that hawaldar will be put in a stinking jawans’ ward, while civilian drunk teenager son of a general will get the best possible treatment in VIP awards. Can anyone deny?

In short, a handful of senior officers, those very individuals who are very fond of playing messiahs, are in reality the biggest curse for the nation.

Alephnull #91 Thanks for writing. From the tone of your post, you are clearly upset because I have questioned some dearly held convictions on your part concerning the 1971 war. You have however ignored the entire context of my post and reduced it to the petty India-Pakistan oneupmanship that goes on in chowk. You have also ignored the rationale I presented, and instead simply presented the rationale (which incidentally I consider to be quite weak) for your conviction that 1971 was some kind of a brilliant military victory.

I am perfectly content with you retaining your convictions concerning 1971, and will not waste your time or mine any further by engaging in what would (based on the tone of your post as explained above) be an inane discussion.

Jay Bhai # 46

Believe me, myself and Romair have never been involved in any coup.

It is done by the top 2-3 Army men and No 110 Brigade Commander based in Pindi. The coup procedure is well rehearsed. Prime Minister is arrested along with few key ministers. Telephone exchange, Radio and TV is taken in possession. And patriotic songs begin on media.

Shareefuddin Peerzada is called to prepare the ``Proclamation Statement`` to be announced on the media. (Shareefuddin charges Rs 1,000,000 for it. Waste of money. Old statement can be photocopied)

Navy, Air Force, rest of Army and poor souls like me and Romair get the news from radio.
Opposition is happy and distributes sweets. The wife of the Prime Minister enters a writ in Supreme Court. The judges get an extension and coup is validated. It is same story every time.

So please reconsider sending me and Romair to gallows just because we have spent a few years in military and were ekking out a living. We have moved on to the new pastures and new life. It is my third profession. Though in polite words, your hatred is well reflected in my article.

Incidently, what do you do for a living?

lately Indians and Afgans have teamed up to sponsor terrorism in Pakistan. Pakis are shouting blue murder. What`s up with that?

It seems Chowk is full of ex-paki military men - the eminent products from the esteemed defence college. ( How come we don`t see any such species from the Indian side in here? ) . So any thoughts on what`s going on? I mean Afgan was supposed to be some kind stretegic depth for Paki army. A brotherly nation that has suddenly turned step-motherly and given pakis a boot where it hurts most. And on top of that - it has teamed up with kafur hindu India.

Why blame afganis? Look at another brotherly nation , Iran. They too are sleeping with the same kafur. what the heck is going on guys? I mean , all you brilliant paki military officers running around with brilliant strategies for propelling the whole Ummah to giddy heights of world dominance - but no other brotherly nation gives a hoot! it seems nobody likes you guys anymore.

what is going on?

nazar:
Thanks for some superb insights into the minds of the people who matter in Pakistan today. No wonder you found yourself uncomfortable in that environment. I suspect that the military aspect of your article are probably true of the Indian army as well.

tahmed:
You are right about the Indian army holding all the aces in the bangladesh war. Still, the outcome would not have been a certainty but for the sound tactics and planning of Gen. Maneckshaw and his men, and of the Pakistani delusion of thinking one pakistani soldier equal to ten Indian soldiers.
But you are right about the long-term consequences. Indira Gandhi`s action in Bangladesh was wrong on strategic, geopolitical as well as moral grounds for India.

Nazar,

Intelligent and excellently written. Enjoyed it very much.

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#44
But in my opinion no one else is doing anything either. Lost 3-4 wars and using up of over 50% of national budget in last 56 years is not much of an achievement.

Truer words were never spoken.