The Safety, Honour and Welfare of your country comes
first always and every time
The Honour, Welfare and Comfort of the men you
command comes next
Your own Ease, Comfort and Safety comes last always and
every time.

Honour. ‘Honour’ or ‘Izzat’ means to have pride in oneself and in being part of the organisation. For an Indian soldier, ‘Izzat’ stems from izzat for the self, the ‘family izzat’, the ‘gaon’s izzat’ (village’s honour) and extends to the ‘paltans izzat’ (battalion’s honour) and izzat of the nation. It implies that the soldier will even lay down his life for the honour of his unit. Honour as value encompasses the following other values:-

Honesty and Integrity. The definition of these values is honourable intentions and principles in thought, deed and actions. It demands the highest level of commitment. A soldier’s manifested behaviour as an honest and upright person will be reflected in his actions and thoughts, which should be matching. The capacity for self-denial is most essential for all soldiers, particularly so for the leaders. It is easier said than practiced because of the temptations that are plenty in the environment. However, for a leader who wants to earn the respect of the men he commands, there is no other alternative but to peruse the righteous path and set an example for the subordinates to emulate. Honesty and integrity involves the following: -

Loyalty. Faithfulness to the army’s commitment and cause is defined as loyalty. In other words, loyalty is not to an individual but to the army as an organisation. The ultimate object of loyalty, therefore, is the nation. It implies channelising loyalty in the following three directions: -

Knowledge. It is defined as the ability to know one’s profession thoroughly and to apply it effectively. Professional knowledge combined with its practical application would induce confidence in the leader. The leader must, therefore, strive to update his knowledge by keeping abreast with the latest developments. It is also of paramount importance to an individual soldier as well. Such knowledge removes the feeling of fear and uncertainty during the fog of war. Today’s soldiers, being thinking men, would like to be involved in activities and do not like to blindly follow orders. He is keen to know the logic of the activity he is asked to take part in and, therefore, it is important that he acquires the knowledge.

Unity. It implies unity amongst all in the army. It is a feeling of oneness; being together and working together, for a common goal. It may be extended to unity of religious teachings and thought. Unity must transcend the limited boundaries of caste, creed, religion and regions to the nation; to pave the way for (give rise to ) national integration, national spirit and patriotism.

Courage - Physical and Moral. Courage is the most admired of human virtues in all societies and in all walks of life. To be a man, is to be courageous. Courage is required no less in the higher than in the lower levels of command, but greater the responsibility and higher the rank, the emphasis shifts from physical to moral courage - a real quality, rare but essential to higher command. Physical courage is easy to see and the soldier concerned is rewarded with a medal or an award. However, in the case of moral courage, where the soldier at times has to sacrifice not only his command but also his entire career, and this seldom comes to public notice, and is never awarded a medal. Moral and physical courage are products of character farming process, of the development of self control, self discipline, physical and metal robustness, of knowledge of one’s job and, therefore, of confidence. These qualities minimise fear and maximise sound judgement under pressure. Physical courage is a virtue that makes a man intrepid in the face of danger - this is applicable to all soldiers. Moral courage is the ability to discriminate between right and wrong as also state so unequivocally. Moral courage involves owning up one’s misstate and stand by the subordinates.

Breakdown of Joint Family System. The long established joint family system has broken down due to various socio-economic factors. The security, which the system used to provide to the soldier by way of attention to the requirements of his family, is thus no longer available to him. Pressing domestic requirements often results in compromising some of the basic character values.

Materialistic Norms. The older sense of spiritual values is fast changing to yield place to newer sense of materialistic values which are based to an extent on the western values acquired by greater inter course between the advanced and the affluent nations and the developing nations like ours. Mass communication and media like radio, newspapers and television have played an important part. This has resulted in increased material wants and consequent continuous dissatisfaction, which arises out of not being able to “keep up with the Jones”. This, coupled with faster life, greater urbanisation, more permissiveness in society, has resulted in mental stress, which causes psychological disorder.

Spread of Literacy. With the spread of literacy, the man today has become far more alive and alert to his surroundings, his work, his rights and privileges and he does try to analyse various orders and instructions. Blind obedience to orders is a matter of the past. This in turn has created a situation where a man has not only to be dealt with along physical plane but also along an intellectual plane. It is consequently becoming increasingly difficult to enforce the” old concepts of discipline. There are far too many cases” of questioning orders, instructions and, in general, cases of indiscipline.

Concept of Welfare State. Being a citizen of a socialistic democratic country, the man One expects a great deal more from the state than before, without realising what does he have to contribute to the state. The hazy concept of “democracy” which does not link responsibility with privileges is undermining the very process of discipline in the army, as it is of the country as a whole.

Agro Industrial Development. There has been considerable progress in the agricultural and the industrial spheres. This has raised the per capita income of the country. There has consequently been a gravitation of the population available to the rural people from adoption of the more modern methods of farming and agriculture, intake from urban areas has increased and the man joins the army more for the purpose for finding a tentative employment then taking it up as a vocation. This naturally lowers the quality of the material constituting the army.

Inflation. The wage price spiral is soaring skyward. The country is going through a critical phase in terms of its economy. Shortage of even the essential items has become a routine occurrence. While the man himself is well looked after by ways of ration entitlement, clothing, medical facilities and accommodation, the same can be hardly said for his family. “It is not at all uncommon to see a man’s family and children, undernourished, ill clothed, ill housed and without adequate medical facilities. Domestic problems, therefore, become a source of constant worry.

Careerism. Due to stiff competition in the army, a persons thoughts and actions are marked by opportunism and use of any means, fair or foul, to keep his profile graph favourable for the higher rank, at whatever cost. He does not hesitate to stoop low in the ethics of service to serve his self-interest. He is invariably a tense man, with his mind ever engaged in trying to distinguish himself in petty routine matters, rather than major issues, because he is neither capable of thinking big nor does he have the will to address himself to the longer issues of national or organisational interest. A careerist is an anathema to the interest of man, and he uses his command to serve his personal interests. Seldom does he take a stand for sake of his men. A careerist is a cunning, calculative manipulator who would invariably achieve his goal, by fair or foul means. 

Sycophancy. Sycophancy is an inseparable element of careerism, as a careerist cannot afford, nor is he inclined to have, a difference of opinion with his master. A sycophant is a sick man of the society, whose mind is always directed to serve personal motive, by ingratiating with his superior officers, through flattery. It is a human craving to be praised or appreciated, which a sycophant exploits by fulfilling this natural craving of his boss, through flattery and one-upmanship. A sycophant surrenders his right of discretion and independent thinking, thus derelicting his obligations to duty and service. A big injustice and wrong are done to the command of sycophant commanders, who is always looking upwards, is subservient to his boss, suspicious of his peers and a terror to his subordinates. The interest of men and the organisation are sacrificed, without a qualm, at the altar of personal interests of the sycophant.

Zero Error Syndrome. The attitude of expecting perfect results and no error has infected the armed forces. The leaders have to justify their actions at all levels, and small errors are presented as colossal mistakes. A strong protagonist of the ‘no mistake syndrome’ believes in a highly centralised system of working even in petty routine matters, thus curtailing the initiative. In our organisation there are far too many ways record failures and mistakes and hardly any for recording achievements. This creates a sense of insecurity in the command. At the end of the year when the all-important Annual Confidential Report has to be written, ten good deeds might not balance an error.

A working environment where making genuine mistakes is considered a higher and positive asset than avoiding decisions from fear of committing mistakes.

Eliminating fear and sycophancy amongst all ranks so that they work with dignity, with interest of the organisation and country always supreme.

Esprit-De-Corps. The basis on, which esprit-de-corps is promoted within military is quite simple. My unit, regiment, corps, squadron, ship, fleet, formation or whatever, is the best and the noblest; I must do my utmost to ensure that it always stays at the very top; no sacrifice is big enough to uphold its honour and good name. In India, with the culture of joint family system in our very bones, it is not difficult to promote esprit-de-corps. The ethos, in which an individual is prepared to make any sacrifice for the good name and honour of the family, has been with us for centuries. Comradeship and regimental spirit “add up to the familiar esprit-de-corps, an essential element of high morale, a priceless asset, which costs much less than the most up-to-date weapons. But without it, most military hardware is of little value”. An officer as a leader has to make constant efforts to promote this. A very major credit for the exemplary performance of the Indian military, since independence to “Operation Vijay, must go to our pride in our units and formations and esprit de corps - a potent fertiliser for staunchness and high morale. There appears to be very little awareness of the fact that we are perhaps the only army to have successfully been fighting at altitudes above 19000 feet and often going as high as 23000 to 24000 feet above sea level. Our army has proved its worth, equally successfully in the Eastern region where the jungles are impenetrable and rain falls to an awesome 200 inches in six months. Our armed forces have been a conglomeration of castes, creeds, religions, languages, regional strains and even ethnic variations. And yet they have displayed astonishing cohesion and efficiency in fighting wars in insurgencies as much as in maintaining internal security and ameliorating the travails of natural calamities.

Regimental Spirit. Regimental system provides organisational structure to promote esprit de corps. Richardson in his outstanding work “Fighting Spirit” has brought out with clarity the relevance of this aspect. To quote, “Regimental spirit could be seen at its best in the old Indian military, where in its unique manner it was just as much a religion as in any British Regiment. With them it was also to a considerable extent a tribal effort and, within regiments composed mostly of the same warrior tribes, even sometimes an affair of villages. A young soldier might be related to several of the NCOs or JCOs/WOs in the regiment. He knew that if he did not do well in battle he had not only their displeasure to face but eventually perhaps even the scorn of his whole village”. This tradition is still present in our regimental system and is based essentially on pride in its achievements. Every opportunity is taken to remind the members of these achievements and traditions so that high standards of behaviour, courage and comradeship is set. This is done through the medium of Part II orders, evening roll calls, lectures, unit darbars and the Temple, Mosque, Gurudwara, Church parade gatherings. It is with this repeated treatment that even the “selfish, self centred, rootless men learn to practise unselfishness and find roots and pride in the traditions of a regiment.” Similarly, Battle Honour days remind all ranks of the unit of the achievements and sacrifices of their predecessors. There is nothing better than the study of the regimental history to understand these traditions and inculcate pride in them. A major feature of the regimental system has been to train young officers to “know their men better than their mothers do and care even more.” It requires officers to learn their language, not to eat till their men are fed; excel their men in physical fitness and handling of weapons; become epitomes of military discipline in punctuality, turnout and thoroughness; play games with their men; spend time in their langars; coach them to be the best in all soldierly activities, sports and behaviour; and keep their word. While achieving excellence in their sub units, they are guided by just one ideal, and that is - their performance and that of their regiment. One of the most significant developments is the growing number of sons serving in their father’s regiment.

Officer-Man Relationship. The cornerstone of the science of war is knowledge of the economy of men’s powers, of their physical possibilities and limitations, of their response to fatigue, hope, fear, success and discouragement, and of the weight of the moral factor in everything they do. Man is a physical being; he will fail utterly in the crisis of battle if there is no respect for his aching back. He is also one of a great brotherhood whose mighty fellowship can make the worst misery tolerable and can provide him undreamed strength and courage. India is a multi religious, multilingual, multiethnic and multi regional society. The composition of the military reflects is diversity. An officer has to command troops who hail from these multiple backgrounds and win their respect and loyalty. Our officers also hail from the same diverse polity. The ongoing counter-insurgency operations and the success in Kargil operations more than demonstrate the cohesiveness, of officers and men. In the annals of warfare, it has often happened that a small and indifferently equipped military has defeated a larger and better-equipped military. This happens when good officers create high morale and esprit de corps among their troops. Good management is the key to these two battle-winning factors.

Motivation. Combat motivation is a force within a soldier that keeps impelling him to improve his combat performance and commitment to his unit, as an individual and as part of a group. This force motivates an individual, which comes from within him. It is his will and keenness to transcend not only what he sets himself to achieve, without loss of dignity and cherished values. Motivation for combat is the willing decision of a person to place him in a situation that threatens his safety and survival. Even in recent times, our soldiers and leaders have exhibited equally great deeds of valour and sacrifice. The recent Kargil operations have amply proved that high degree of motivation impels the soldier and commanders to give off their best in extremely difficult situations.