Would you prefer to sleep...and leave a few buddies behind, or do you want to undergo sleepless nights ...but go back together?

     My unit was near Baramula when I took over command - they had been deployed there for about a year. The regiment was deployed in gun positions, a company operating base on the Line of Control(LC), convoy protection duties from Srinagar to Uri and road opening. The regiment HQ normally had the RHQ staff and troops rotating in and out of other duties or leave.

     I was very concerned about security and safety of the RHQ. This location had more clerks, cooks, washermen, barbers and drivers (not that they were less effective, but their nature of work did not allow me to deploy them on core operations roles frequently, because that would be at the cost of cooking, office work or haircuts!) In addition, a couple of porters used to work here - essentially locally hired working hands, who could potentially inform terrorists about the deployment and state of alertness. We were also part of the local garrison under the infantry brigade, and since I was the only CO in location(the infantry COs were deployed with their battalions on the LC - artillery works one up in relation to the infantry - the battery commander works with the infantry CO, the regiment commander works with the infantry brigade commander etc), I was commander of the garrison for local security.

     I knew that there had been attacks on garrisons in the recent past, and they would happen again. The enemy is always watching and keeping track of which garrison is lax and which one is active, and is likely to respond effectively(porters and locals are potential informants). I figured that prevention is better than cure, therefore deterring potential terrorist attacks on my garrison was the best bet. The strategy I chose to follow was - make a lot of noise, use technology and train my unit.

     Every unit is authorised a huge quantity of small arms( that is rifle, automatics etc) ammunition every year, even if they are in CI operations. Usually, this is not used up for training as everyone is busy with deployment on actual operations. Luckily for us, we had an improvised firing range on the hillside within our unit, which I activated - no approvals, clearances etc. We organized firing twice a week with whatever we had-  all ranks in HQ who could be spared were required to fire their weapons at the range. There were no elaborate arrangements - just the targets, a weapons technician from the Light Repair Workshop(LRW) that was part of my unit, and a collection of available troops on that day- sometimes as few as 20, and sometimes almost 50. We only worked out the number of rounds(bullets) to be fired every week to use up all the ammunition by the end of the year. I used to make it a point to fire my weapon whenever possible - something that I have always enjoyed!

     I also stipulated  a condition that the waiting details (people waiting in queue to fire, since only 8 could fire at a time) would not wait, but continuously do their weapons training exercises - no sitting around etc. The first week was a little difficult, since everyone takes it that this is another one of those projects that won't last long. I landed up the first day and had to dress down a couple of JCOs and officers to get it going. Soon, our unit (and the nearby units and villages) was reverberating to the sweet sound of small arms fire every week - sending the message that this unit trains continuously, and hard. The porters would be working nearby and they also carried this message home(and elsewhere).

    

     Usually, the security detail is worked out by JCOs and deployment of guards is done by them. Afterwards, they complain that there are too many guard posts, due to which troops are able to sleep only one in 4 nights etc. I did  a review and found that a few of the guard posts were simply facing a neighboring units guard post a few metres away. Cameras and sensors had been around for some time, so I authorised my second in command to buy and deploy thermal cameras and improvise trip sensors in low threat areas. Remember, this was an area where the temperatures could go down to -15 celsius in winter with mist, so we had to be careful about what we bought. we put a large portion of the Annual Contingency Grant(public funds allocated to every unit on an annual basis) to good use doing this. In the end, we reduced guards and sentries by 30%. However, I was conscious of the need to cover these areas with people, so we created two quick reaction teams(QRTs), who were expected to be at the scene in under 1 minute. I used to walk around and pull the trip sensor and wait to see how long the QRT took, including retakes whenever they wouldn't. and this would happen round the clock. While all this was happening, the porters were watching and telling others too...

     We also started sending out patrols to nearby villages to dominate them - staying in touch with what is happening around you is very critical for operational awareness. I also insisted on perimeter patrols during day and night - from outside the fence for the entire garrison. People have a tendency to stay within their comfort zone, in this case, within the fence. The need was to dominate the 'outside', talk to the herdsmen who seemed to always be loitering outside the fence and keep them at arms length. They had to get the message that we could get to them at any time of the day or night, and they could not sneak in close. (Now that I'm in business management, I carry this lesson with me - always stay in touch with your customers and know what the competition is about to do).

     An incident comes to my mind - one of the first patrols that went to a village got chatting with the headman about how it was almost time for Eid and how he(the JCO who pretended to be a devout muslim) would celebrate it. They were offered food by the villagers, and the JCO blurted out "but we have a fast for Santoshi maa today"! So much for getting close to locals!

     Once I was woken up in the middle of the night by my 2iC, saying that a guard post had seen movement, and had opened fire. I told him to get the regiment on 'stand to'(everyone occupies battle stations) and rushed to the post. It appeared that the soldier had seen someone in the shadows and fired. However, there was no one to be seen outside the fence. Sentries deploy in pairs (to keep fear at bay and also ensure adequate response in case of an incident). In this case, it was obvious that the second sentry had been sleeping (it was obvious from the small space that had been created within the post for the second sentry to sit, and sleep), and the person on guard had got scared and opened fire  -fear can make you see things where there is nothing. This was tricky - if the sentry was punished for opening fire when there was no threat, guards would think twice before opening fire  while on duty, even when there was a genuine threat. and if he was not punished, sentries could potentially become trigger happy. I decided to address the unit(town hall or 'sainik sammelan') to explain why I was not punishing the sentry, even though there was no intruder. It was important to communicate the thought process behind the (in)action, especially the importance of both sentries staying awake while on guard duty!

     One incident stands out on considered inaction. In 2012, a protest against the National Hydel Power Corp nearby spiraled out of control. People protesting against a power shortage gathered outside the NHPC premises, which was next door and just outside the garrison. I was responsible for the convoy, which was to pass this area at around 10 am, which we managed by deploying my troops and clearing  the way. My men also captured this on video. Around afternoon, the situation started going out of hand - the crowd grew restive. I ordered the garrison on 'stand to' but told them all to stay away from the crowd, since they were demonstrating against NHPC, its security was not my responsibility. I decided not to intervene in the protest, since my garrison was not affected directly - although I did get a couple of calls insinuating that I was not doing my job by not acting. I was clear that managing a civilian protest of that type was not in my charter of duties! Soon we heard shots - the CISF(central industrial security force) troopers had fired on some protestors trying to climb the walls and killed a man. This got on TV very fast, and CISF soon became 'security forces' and 'army'. I soon started getting calls from the brigade and division - I told them that we were not involved and sent them the video that we had captured. Very quickly, the division rebutted the media claims and the army was saved an unfair embarrassment. 

      This was a hot location and within a year of us being replaced after we moved out to a peace station, they were attacked by terrorists. It was probably luck that protected my regiment, or maybe it was a combination of various actions that we took while we were there. We opted to give up on our sleep and comfort to ensure security - I addressed the unit to give them this option right at the beginning "Would you prefer to sleep, be comfortable, switch off and leave a few buddies behind, or do you want to undergo sleepless nights and fatigue, but go back together?"  Most opted for the second, and we pushed the others along in that direction.

    When we moved out of there, ours was one of the few units to complete a tenure without any casualties, and yet do more than expected in terms of the operational role. In any case, my wife learned to fire while we were there!