Recently I
had the occasion to reminisce about my career in the Air Force.
The milestone that prompted this introspection was the
39th Anniversary of my batch's commissioning into the
Bhartiya Vayu Sena. I recalled with pride that glorious day last
month, when Air Chief Marshal PC Lal, the then Chief of the Air
Staff, pinned the Air Force flying badge - 'Wings' - onto my
chest while I stood ram rod straight to receive this ultimate
symbol of acceptance by the flying fraternity - a rite of
passage, so to speak; a badge of honour and commitment. I
remember that event clearly, like it happened yesterday!
Let me be
upfront about this: I joined the Air Force at that time, not
because I wanted to belong to an Organisation run by highly rated
professionals but for another, very selfish reason - to get a
shot at flying fast jets. As years went by and now, as I look
back, I know that I got a lot, lot more from that Service than I
could have ever imagined or even anticipated. I am what I am
thanks to the Indian Air Force.
Sure, I got
to fly the fast jets of the day right through my 31 year long
flying career - Hunter, Marut, Gnat, the Mig series, Jaguar,
Mirage, F-16, F-18 etc., but, I also got much more than that. I
got to meet and befriend an exceptional bunch of people who
always seemed to put the interest of others, ahead of their own.
This bunch, somehow, managed to find time and more importantly
the inclination, to go out of their way to ensure that each
others' family responsibilities get taken care of, in terms of
children's education, required medical interventions etc.,
whether or not one was in 'station' to discharge those
responsibilities. Verily, the Air Force was one big, happy, well
adjusted family.
That was
then.
Years down
the line, when one gets to meet those who occupy various policy
making/executive posts while running this fine organization
today, it is evident that subtle shifts that have taken place
within the Services. It can be argued that the Armed Forces can
never stay insulated from a Society evolving around it. This is a
valid, accurate argument. It is also a very sad outcome of the
current state of affairs relating to National security.
We are all
aware that it is a challenge to defend our Nation - the armed
forces have to contend with a long coast line, inhospitable
border areas: desert, mountains, rain forests; Insurgency; Urban
warfare, internal security issues et al. The need to be prepared
for any and all eventualities becomes even more emergent as our
GDP and asset base continue to grow, thus attracting the 'evil
eye'!
To address
these challenges we must re-evaluate our Security value chain,
end to end: Recruitment, Training, Career Development, Logistics,
Selection and Procurement of Defence equipment - amongst many
more intangible and subjective parameters.
So, how are
we doing on these fronts?
I find that
there is one base parameter that greatly influences every other
parameter mentioned above and, presently, manages to degrade the
efficiency of the entire Security value chain. That parameter is
corruption.
Corruption
is present at our recruitment centres. Our training is less than
professional because adequate emphasis is not provided by higher
policy making echelons of the Services and, consequently,
training budgets are kept abysmally low. Career development of
worthy officers and men is derailed due to nepotism - notice the
number of redress petitions filed in civil courts by serving
officers of the Armed Forces who were 'done in' by manipulative
administrative action that disqualified them from being promoted
just so another not so worthy (and therefore, pliable) person
rises to decision making post. Managing logistics is seen as a
God sent opportunity to make hay while the sun of opportunity
shines on the incumbent. The less said the better about
procurement of defence equipment. The size of the contract
decides the thickness of the 'creamy layer' that is top loaded
onto a padded contract. This layer is then lopped off by those
who have no concept of nationhood and martyrdom. The
specifications of equipment, urgently required by our fighting
forces, undergo many changes to accommodate vendors who promise
to raise the 'height' of the creamy layer for a given
contract.
This state
of affairs has become endemic because of the well established
nexus between politicians, bureaucrats and pliable military
commanders. The majority of politicians and bureaucrats do not
care to examine the long term effects of corruption on national
security. The pliable military commander's case is cruelly ironic
as his compromising stance, adopted for personal benefit,
endangers the security of the very Nation that he has pledged to
protect and make secure. Indeed, such is the corroding influence
of corruption that it ends up making our Nation vulnerable and
insecure - ill equipped to ward off attacks that must inevitably
come as we scale greater heights on the path of progress.
Corruption and compromise are interchangeable in this context and
results in the lowering of 'izzat' as currently being experienced
and lamented by officers and men of our Armed Forces, both
serving and retired. Corruption results in lax national security
preparedness: human resources unsuited to the task due to poor
selection practices caused by choosing pliability over ability
while recommending promotions to higher ranks , ineffective
training methodologies, less than effective intelligence
gathering mechanisms, selection and purchase of 'convenient'
rather than 'potent' weapon systems, poor management of our
Defence R&D organizations by the bureaucracy that accepts
misleading assurances given by them to our fighting forces in
respect of weapon development programmes. The list is longer. We
need to deal with this sub-set, urgently.
I suspect
that the Armed Forces find themselves where they are, in respect
of the treatment being meted out to them by the
politico-bureaucratic combine, because its leadership lost sight
of their alma mater, the National Defence Academy 's motto:
'Service Before Self'. They have done themselves and the nation,
a great disservice by doing so.
Truly, 'izzat' is
everything.
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