Making of a Commando-3 | CLASS ACT: Acquiring Combat Skills for Special Mission Ops

By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore: Special mission operations are the most hazardous job for the commandos. The combat skills they acquire make the difference between life and death while operating on commando missions, behind enemy lines. The outfit will have specialists in skills like tracking, survival, demolitions, communications, medicine, surveillance, rock climbing, sky diving and deep sea diving.
The Indian Army has put some of its best men in the business to train soldiers who check into the Commando Wing (CW) in Belgaum. During their stint at CW’s facilities, the soldiers are imparted with basic skills in combat shooting, unarmed combat, rock craft, demolitions, special missions and combat first aid. These skills are the bread and butter of a commando.
Combat shooting is a very challenging, yet charming part of the training at CW. While firing skills mark the foundation for any solider, it is his expertise that graduates him into being a commando. “A student at the CW is trained in ambidextrous firing (using both hands and shoulders), firing on the move, peripheral vision firing and cover fire techniques. These disciplines of firing are essential to the survival of a commando and will help him in various combat situations,” Major R K Sharma, Instructor, CW, told Express, during a recent visit to the facilities.
In unarmed combat, a commando is trained to tackle the enemy, empty handed. “We teach martial art techniques to defend against armed and unarmed enemy. A commando is made aware of sensitive and pressure points in a human body essential to injure or kill the enemy. With the Indian borders in the North and the North-East being mountainous, we also impart training in various basic and specialised rock climbing techniques like slithering, scorpion rappelling and walk down from the falls,” said Major Sharma.
With today’s war being driven by technology, the CW has upgraded its curriculum to reckon with the best in the world, even throwing some surprises to the visiting foreign armies. The use of paint ball guns, gen-next rock climbing gadgets, remote controlled targets and cameras for room intervention are some of the training gadgets being used. Remote controlled IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) developed by CW for training is based on the experience gained by its instructors while on the job.
While undertaking training in special mission operations, a commando’s performance is validated against six different parameters. “He has to navigate undetected for long distances, reach the designated target, carryout surveillance before destroying it. Case studies and experiences of actual operations are shared with future commandos,” says Major Sharma. In addition, potential problem solving skills to meet unforeseen situations are also practised.
A soldier who passes out of CW would have mastered techniques not only in destroying targets and killing the enemy but also in combat first aid and survival that will help in saving lives behind the enemy lines.

(To be continued)
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PART-3

Making of a Commando-2 | Ability to hang on for a moment longer matters the most | Giving up is considered unfit to be welcomed in the brotherhood

 By Anantha Krishnan M
Express News Service

Bangalore: If you are nursing the dream of becoming a commando one day, then you need to get your body in shape right away. Inside Indian Army's Commando Wing (CW) at Belgaum, every solider who enrolls for the rigorous course, is constantly reminded of the need to be physically and psychologically fit. As the training gains momentum, a new reality dawns and the fight to survive for one more day takes hold. As days go by, the rules of the game change rapidly, with nothing known about the next moment. The psychological strain is immense, by design. Lack of sleep and fatigue begin to play havoc with your senses.
Major Raviraj Nalawade, Head of Training Team at CW, was the man marked to give Express an insight into the unknown terrains of a commando's mind. After a two day sojourn of the training facilities at the CW, the welcome handshake with the Major was a reminder to what separates boys from the men of steel. “An individual who wants to stretch his limits; who is willing to undergo physical and mental hardship; ready to block out pain and allow the body to be controlled by the mind, can take a shot at becoming a commando. The foremost quality of a commando is steadfast will power. The other defining traits in their order of importance being, moral and physical courage, psychological, emotional and physical fitness,” said Major Raviraj.
He added that a commando is a person with intense self-discipline. “Somebody who has to be supervised cannot become a commando. He has to think and then act like one. His firing skills should be second to none and the capability of handling of all kinds of weapons and explosives has to be top class. A commando also has to navigate without any technological gizmo,” the Major said.
A commando is not all brawn and no brain, as the popular opinion goes. He has to be tech-savvy and should be able use every latest gadget at his disposal to his benefit. He may have to direct laser guided bombs on to targets, that can otherwise not be destroyed by other explosives. He must be able to communicate with his headquarters and may have to send back live audio/video surveillance feeds of high-value targets.
“Another important aspect of a being a commando is the knowledge of medicine. He is trained in life saving procedures that he may have to perform on his colleagues or at times on himself during conflicts. He will have to be well read, understand foreign relations and government policies as well. A commando has to be aware of everything all the time and cannot be ignorant. He has to have the ability to win hearts and minds. A good commando also has to be compassionate too,” says Major Raviraj.
Finally, what everything boils down to is the will of a man to go on, and the capability to hang on for a moment longer. At the CW, a man who thinks of giving up is considered unfit to be welcomed in the brotherhood. “A commando is therefore a man who thinks, how he thinks and how long he keeps thinking,” signed-off the Major.(To be continued)

Copyright@The New Indian Express

PART-2

Making of a Commando-1: Romancing with unknown dangers | 'Warfare is all about confidence'

 By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore: "We make men out of boys," – reads a massive board at the the entrance of the Commando Wing (CW), one of the most-discreet units of Indian Army, situated in Belgaum. It is here that the advanced lessons in undercover operations are taught to the fittest and finest soldiers, who get enrolled for a 35-day commando course. Express was recently given access to some of the round-the-clock activities inside the CW, consisting of outdoor and indoor exercises.
Part of the Junior Leaders Wing (JLW), the CW is spread across vintage buildings of British era and imparts training to officers, non-commissioned officers, para-military forces and friendly foreign nations on a regular basis. The JLW is part of the Infantry School at Mhow and the commando course is mandatory for all infantry and mechanised forces. Among the highlights of the commando course are: jumping from high walls, walking on narrow platforms and beams, slithering from helicopters, endurance runs (10 km to 40 km) carrying complete battle load and personal weapons, battle obstacle courses, rock-climbing, rapelling, combat firing, suvival missions and lecture demonstrations.
Maj Gen Chandra Shekhar, Commander, JLW, says that passing the commando course is just one milestone a solider crosses. “We impart special skills using most-optimum use of ground and they get sharpened when the commandos repeat the process again and again. It's all about how much extremes your body and mind can handle. No two situations in life or war can be similar. It's not a mathematical formulae that they should apply. We always remind the commandos that tough times don't last, but tough people do,” says Maj Gen Chandra Shekhar. He said a good commando has to be a good human being first, possessing qualities like top class character, compassion, courage, competence, commitment and finally charisma.
As part of the special mission training to enhance the combat edge, small teams are formed and sent to jungles and varied kinds of terrains. This exercise, said to be the most toughest part of the course, may vary from one to three days. “Warfare is all about confidence. We break the biological timings, deprive a commando of sleep and put him through a timetable that's not told to him till the last moment. We make him do all things which he hasn't done before. No plans are known to anyone. We show them the limits their body, mind and soul can take. It's all about romancing dangers and risks. It's all about feeling for the nation. We have done it and now it's their turn,” says Col Deep Bhagat, Commander, CW, JLW.
In addition, there are planned exercises in simulated battle conditions. The commandos are also trained in different kinds of military explosives and they are given valuable survival tips in hostile conditions (to be featured in later part of of this series). “They are also given training in basic medical aspects and unarmed fighting (if the weapon malfunctions). We are able to enhance the endurance, confidence and the knowledge levels of a solider so that he gets a complete insight of special mission and covert operations. Among the many tests a commando has to pass in the beginning of the course is the BPET (Battle Proficiency Efficiency Test),” says Lt Col Rajiv Saharan, Chief Instructor, CW.
The BPET consists of a 5-km run with weapons (5kg) and battle load (3.5kg); climbing vertical rope and horizontal rope; jumping fire ditches with battle load; 60-m sprint and swimming in battle fatigue (uniform, shoes and the like).

PART-1

(To be continued)

Copyright@The New Indian Express

Coming soon: The Commando series...