Major goof-up

In the army, a year of training comprises several individual training cycles, collective training exercises (mock war/battles) and field firing. The training culminates with field firing and then battle inoculation.

Battle inoculation is a drill where an outfit attacks a mock enemy target under battle conditions i.e., live artillery shelling on the target with medium and heavy machine guns firing live ammunition slightly above the height of troops. This is to create an atmosphere of a real battle.

In the late 80s, when I was a major and a rifle company commander in 16th battalion of the Sikh Light Infantry, we had gone for field firing and battle inoculation at Pokharan, Rajasthan. The range is divided into different sectors with each one dedicated to infantry, artillery, battle tanks, air force, etc,. The division of the sectors is on maps but on the ground they are imaginary lines as there are no proper landmarks in the desert.

A colleague of mine, a major, was tasked by the commanding officer (CO) to reconnoitre a stretch of area for field firing and battle inoculation. The officer was a bit callous at his work and was infamous for that. Although he carried a map, magnetic compass, etc., he did not read the map properly and drove his jeep into the Pokharan range by approximation. While reconnoitering the area, he suddenly found himself in the middle of a hail of artillery shells bursting all around him. He ran frantically towards his jeep parked some distance away, battling for his life and those of his team. Miraculously, he and his men survived unscathed.

The area where he was lost turned out to be the target area of artillery guns in artillery field firing sector!

When the major returned hunky dory to our camp, as expected, he got an earful when he telephoned his commanding officer. Later in the evening, when I and my fellow officers gathered in the officers’ mess tent in the desert for dinner, the CO tauntingly narrated the incident and said, “the major can return to the base since he’s already been battle inoculated under real battle conditions, while the rest of you have to wait your turn till the next war!”

When the jawans informed their senior JCO about the incident, the grayed senior JCO who had fought the 1965 and 1971 wars chided the major in an elderly capacity. Moving on he said, “Sir, we raised a big troop welfare fund (company fund) during ’65 and ’71 wars by collecting the brass after enemy shelling. But considering how wonderful the Sikh Pioneers screen looks, which the Queen of England returned to the regiment of the SIKH LI, very kindly after independence, a thought came to my mind that if we collect brass on such occasions, all our battalions put together can make a similar SIKH LI brass screen. This is a way better aim than the troop welfare fund!” Be it profession or life, everyone has his own priorities or worries.