A 45 MINUTE RAID THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

#LEADERSHIP# DECISION MAKING# RISK MANAGEMENT#ASSET PROTECTION#INTELLIGENCE #COLLOBORATION Former Army Commander Lieutenant General Raj Shukla Maj Gen Neeraj Bali Colonel VS Chandrawat, SM, CPP Ravi Murugan IIM Ahmedabad - Armed Forces Programme Sanjay Verma Rajat Sharma Chetan Soman Chitra Singla Satish Deodhar Sobhesh Kumar Agarwalla Anju Sharma Prof. (Dr.) Mehak Jonjua Gagan Baath, Ph.D. Kulwant Nijjar colonel himanshu sabharwal Colonel Ravi Madhok, VSM Arun Hariharan Sarita Ahlawat Brigadier Rajeev Ohri VSM (Veteran) Anil Kumar Chahar Khushi Gupta Nishi M. Binuraj Padmanabhan Anupam Sharma Anudeep Chauhan Dr. Kriti Singh Dr. Shamsher Singh Capt.(Dr.)Sukhwinder Kaur Kirpal Gill Col Amit Verma Bhabani Das Anand Bhargave Anand Revi Anand Bajpai Abhishek Pathania IIM Ahmedabad - Armed Forces Programme Colonel BB Pun, YSM, SM (Retd) Col Amit Verma Brigadier Hardeep Singh Sohi Arun Pandey Col CS Shiv Prasad, CPP, CFE, NEBOSH CAE Anjali Rathi Maj Gen Rajesh Kumar Jha Maj Gen SK Sharma, SM(Bar), VSM Col Hemendra Bhandari, VSM, CFE ? Col Hemant Sahni, VSM (Veteran) Colonel Ashutosh Sharma Ashutosh Jha Brig Sujit Narain,YSM,SM Veteran Pavithran SP Major Prateek Chamoli (Retd) Shikha Yadav Percy Fernandez,PhD

“Why is he not dying?” Viktor Fekdovich furiously thought. Fekdovich, the 31-year-old Colonel of the USSR Special Forces was stationed outside the presidential palace in Kabul on 27 Dec 1979. Hafizullah Amin, Columbia-educated president of Afghanistan had succeeded Nur Ahmed Taraki, who had been killed allegedly on orders of Amin. Suspecting Amin of being secretly in touch with the CIA, the USSR ??planned to get rid of him. A KGB-trained cook poisoned Amin’s soup. Two Russian doctors not aware of the KGB’s plot worked frantically, putting in tubes and pumping out the poison.

?Finally tired of waiting Colonel Viktor signalled his men to launch Operation ‘Storm 333’, a raid on the presidential palace. “No prisoners” 31-year-old Colonel shouted to his men. Treaded steel tracks of a 13-ton BMP (Russian Infantry Fighting Vehicle) tore through the fresh snow of Kabul. Each BMP carried seven commandos of Spetsnaz (Russian Special Forces), the Red Army's best soldiers with an Olympic athlete's fitness level. ?Afghan soldiers guarding the presidential palace were surprised by the sudden movement of more than 60 BMPs.

Their surprise turned to shock as Russians let loose a hail of fire. 73-mm shells designed to penetrate NATO tanks’ steel armour started chipping the palace walls. Panicked Afghan guards started running only to be greeted by machine guns firing at a rate of 714 rounds per minute. Bullets traveling at the speed of 840 metres per second tore through the guards killing them on the spot. Some Russian paratroopers sprinted to the target in yellow-coloured tracksuits wearing sports shoes. Once inside the palace, they switched on the night vision goggles giving them a distinct advantage in engaging targets. ?Amin tried to make sense of the mayhem while two teams of ‘Alpha’ and ‘Vempyl’, crack troops of KGB raced to his room shooting everyone in the way. Hafizullah Amin, to his credit, was a brave man. Despite being weakened by the poison he met Russians with an AK 47 in his hands. A Russian commando trained at Rayazan Airborne School pressed his trigger twice in quick succession. Four bullets travelling at a speed of 2600 feet/second hit Amin killing him on the spot. ??Russians cleared the presidential palace with mechanical precision and in 45 minutes the operation was over. The president of Afghanistan and his 150-armed guards were dead. Viktor Fekdovich had no idea that his raid had changed the world forever.

10000 Km away in Wahington Zbigniew Brzezinski, a Polish Jew & American National Security Advisor was shocked when briefed about it. The Islamic Revolution in Iran in Feb 1979 and the Russian presence in Afghanistan were a strategic threat. Poring over the map he realised that Moscow was closest to its 200-year dream of ‘Russian Cavalry washing its boots in the warm waters of the Arabian Sea’.

Foreign Office mandarins leafed through NSC -68, a 10,000-word bible by George Keenan which had been the framework of US plans to counter Russians. Some rushed to Santa Monica to confer with RAND, an American think tank that had come up with some innovative solutions to strategic problems.? A young political scientist, Francis Fukuyama was sent to Pakistan to get a ground feel. General Zia Ul Haq playing on Americans' fears told Francis Fukuyama that Shindad (a Russian airbase in North West Afghanistan) was a five-day tank drive for the Russian armoured corps. ?Brzezinski came up with a plan to trap the Red Army in Afghanistan which had been called the ‘Graveyard of Empires.’ The battering ram of this war was to be uneducated, fanatic, sturdy Afghans,” who had prayer on lips and murder in the heart.” ?He found ready support from William Casey, Director of the CIA and that is how “Operation Cyclone” the biggest covert operation in the history of mankind was launched. This operation is a study in logistics, intelligence, risk management, asset protection, collaboration, and leadership.

?The USA convinced Saudi Arabia to match “a dollar for a dollar” to bankroll the war. Weapons bought from Egypt and China were shipped to Karachi and then transported over 1200 Km to Afghanistan using rail, road, and mules. Pakistan’s ISI oversaw the distribution of weapons and in the process siphoned off a sizeable number. US decision to supply Afghan Mujahids with Stinger, a shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile in 1984/85 changed the dynamics of war. Ultimately what US Heavy Armoured Division and nuclear-tipped missiles failed to achieve was made possible by uneducated, salwar kameez-wearing Afghans. On 17 Feb 1989, after nine years, one month & 18 days Red Army moved across the bridge on the Amur River which it had crossed on 25 Dec 1979.

General Boris Gromov, the last Russian to cross the bridge was greeted by his son Maxim with a bouquet. Three years later Lenin’s weltanschauung of classless society lay in an ash heap when the USSR disintegrated. ?What does this most significant event since the fall of Berlin in World War 2 teach to the corporate world?

# 1 Belief in Cause and a Relentless Passion USSR In 1979 seemed invincible. Jimmy Carter lacked the passion and belief to wage a decisive campaign. Things changed with Reagan’s ascension to the White House. He imbued his team with a messianic zeal. Brzezinski, William Casey, Charlie Wilson (a senator from Texas) & Gust Avrakostos (Afghan desk handler in CIA) coalesced to form a gale force. They worked tirelessly to defeat an adversary who had never retreated in the last forty years. Successful Industrial houses like Adani, Reliance, and TATA exist because of their founders' belief and ability to imbue their managers with the same vigour and enthusiasm. A leader selecting a team for a long-term project should choose a team that shares his dream.

# 2 Preventing Pilferages in a Joint Venture. USA and Saudi Arab acted like a joint venture providing capital, materials, and technology. ?Day-to-day functioning was delegated to Pakistan which worked like a franchise. The operation was profitable but at an excessive cost due to Pakistan siphoning off weapons and cash. This resulted due to inadequate supervisory mechanisms. CIA’s main contact point for the war was Gen Akhtar Rehman, DG ISI. Outwardly frugal and committed, he had secret accounts in Credit Suisse Bank with huge amounts siphoned off from war funds. Stringent accountability measures would have resulted in economic utilisation and employment of resources. E-commerce houses with a large inventory face the same problem. Stemming the internal misappropriation will result in increased profitability. ?

# 3 Asset Protection in Hostile Environment. Peshawar was the springboard for the war in Afghanistan. Pakistan spread its assets from Peshawar to Quetta precluding a hostile action that could have serious ramifications Similarly, a high-value asset in an unhospitable environment should have a low profile and visibility. It should not project itself as a lucrative target to invite hostile action.

# 4 It is not over till it is Over. America finally achieved victory, withdrew, and paid a hefty price with 9/11. A pittance to provide security for a stable Afghanistan was considered a wasteful expenditure. ?The USA paid with a two trillion war which lasted twenty years, the longest war America ever fought. Any hesitancy to back up multi-million industrial infrastructure with robust security may have unpleasant consequences.