THE GENERAL'S INSPECTION

“A combat ready unit is not ready for inspection and an inspection ready unit is not ready for combat”, this is an adage that is known to all who have served in any defence forces. Near the location where I was commanding my Infantry Unit, there had been a few incidents of terrorists coming from across our western borders and carrying out their heinous tasks. As a result all Infantry units of the garrison were combat ready at the time of this incident. All Infantry units came under a Brigade Headquarter, which in turn came under a Division Headquarter whose boss was the Division Commander (a Major Genaral). Inspection of a unit by the Division Commander was usually once in an year event.

There are times when the hierarchy is not aware of what is actually happening on ground. On a Sunday Night at around 2100h (9PM), I had been told by my Brigade Commander that the Divisional Commander would be visiting my unit at 10000h (10 AM) the next day. One doesn’t say no to an order in the army, one needs to however, understand that many an order have far reaching implications that need to be understood. I told my Brigade Commander that while it was the General’s pleasure to inspect my unit whenever he wanted, any Infantry Unit required at least 48 hours to prepare for such an event, and I needed that much time. He, it seems, had already asked for this time but could not do much as the exalted staff officers at the Division Headquarters had planned the visit and were not amenable to change. I decided to rock the boat, and spoke to the staff officer who was responsible for planning all such unit inspections. The conversation went something like this:-

           Staff Officer – “The general will visit your unit tomorrow at 1000h, please see to it that the visit is a good one”.

           Me – “ Sir I request you kindly inform him that he is welcome but no one will conduct him around. He can move anywhere he pleases inside our unit lines (barracks)”.

          This was probably not an answer that a staff officer from my higher headquarter was accustomed to listen to. There was a pregnant silence filled with tension, I had possibly gone too far. The staff officer was a senior person and again repeated the same thing, probably thinking he had heard wrong.

         Staff Officer – “ Listen at  1000h tomorrow the boss man will be there, I am sure you and your unit can be ready by then”.

         Me – “ Sir it is a Sunday Night and my unit requires minimum two days to get ready for an inspection of this nature. If however, the General decides to visit us tomorrow, he is welcome to move anywhere inside my unit, but I assure you no one will take him around. ”.

          I was indirectly telling the boss of my boss that he wouldn’t be welcome, if he wanted to inspect my unit without giving us time to prepare for it. The phone was slammed at the other end, not a happy feeling I guess for both of us. Next day, I waited for the General’s vehicle which did not arrive, a message was conveyed that he would visit us after three days. I called my Second in Command and then and only then told him that we were to be inspected by the Divisional Commander after 72 hours. I had faith in his abilities and left it to him to get the unit from combat ready mode to inspection mode. There was nothing more for me to do but brush up my salute for the inspection and meanwhile carry on my regular tasks.

            So as not to get a wrong impression, I’ll make it clear here. It takes much less time for getting combat ready, six to eight hours are the planning figures for an Infantry unit of 800 plus men, in some 100 vehicles carrying all kinds of weapons, tonnes of ammunition, tonnes of rations and thousands of litres of fuel of all kinds. There is no such time line for an inspection, besides the regular neatness & cleanliness the ceremonial uniforms have to be made ready, a small Ceremonial Guard practiced for the Quarter Guard (an institution where the history of the unit along with its flags, banners, trophies etc are kept) every weapon, piece of equipment stores and commodities placed in an orderly fashion, a lot of spit and polish and there are many other such tasks. Everyone has to be present at one place or the other to ensure all aspects of the visit are to inspection standards. This takes time and till the inspection ends, one cannot say that the preparations for it are over.

              Professional armies all over the world work for respect more than any other aspect. If one gets respect one tends to go out of his way to accomplish his given tasks. Respect is earned over a period of time, it’s not a one day affair and it is lost for every minor transgression from the ordinary. An infantry unit (for that matter any other unit) is a collection of different men, who have different skill sets, some inherited from their ancestors and some acquired during the course of their training and subsequent learning on the job. Each person then takes pride in becoming the best in what he has to do. Collectively the individuals bind together to form the spirit of the unit and this spirit has the characteristics of a very sensitive human being. If the unit is doing well it is happy, if not it is sad. If any individual or sub unit (section 10 men, platoon 30 men or company 120 men) does well it becomes jubilant, if on the other hand any individual of the unit is caught for something wrong or illegal, this spirit cringes. If the entire unit has been found wanting, well it takes weeks if not months for this spirit to get back from a state of depression, that swallows every single individual of the unit. 

             I had learnt it at a very young age at National Defence Academy (NDA) and also Indian Military Academy (IMA), two great institutions for building leaders, that it is the task of the seniors to get the best out of their juniors. At the very same time it’s the bounden duty of a senior to protect his juniors or his command from any external factor that may affect their self esteem. As one advances in his career in the army, one learns that in an Infantry Unit, or any other unit for that matter, it’s the task of the Commanding Officer (CO) to protect his unit from any external factor that may shake it’s morale.

           The General alighted from his official vehicle, a smart wiry person. “My staff tells me you didn’t want me to inspect your unit, well here I am so take me around”, all this with a twinkle in his eyes. “Correct Sir, not till we were ready for it, we really needed these three days”, said with a smile and the inspection started in earnest. Every nook and corner of the unit was visited, every door was opened and every weapon and piece of equipment was checked. All stores were visited and whoever came to be there during the visit was questioned at length. There were some minor points for rectification but nothing major was amiss. The General finished his inspection after hours and complimented the entire unit for being very professional, for me that was good enough.