The Road Ahead---An Open Letter To the COAS Designate (This letter was sent to the present Army Chief, when he was the Army Commander Eastern Army and Located in Kolkatta, West Bengal)

The well known contemporary writer on leadership, as also  motivational speaker Stephen Covey, dwells upon the freedom of choice, which everyone has in the huge space existing between a stimulus and its response. It is upon us to make this choice and thereafter be fully accountable to our action. The direction and purpose of this endeavor is driven by one’s orientation and how one is  hardwired. Therefore, it is fair and correct to assume that the aforementioned response is contingent upon our character and the values & life principles we have imbibed into our personality. Those of us who are more steeped and rooted in the correct military and social values, will continue to make a choice of the harder Right than the easier Wrong.

In the recent incident involving three Lt Generals, a Maj General and probably some other middle rung officers, in a scurrilous deed of inducement by tactile/abstruse  gains/advantage, has nailed the lie of all is well with the TOP BRASS of the Army. Much to my chagrin and disappointment, the skeletons which have stumbled from the coffers of One, Two and Three Star General Officers in the past decade, is a woeful commentary on the state of probity, rectitude and righteous conduct and living, which afflicts our Officership. The shared societal value of success alone being pedestalised, irrespective of the means to achieve it has insidiously affected the middle and senior leadership in the Army, also. I am seized of the fact that the Armed Forces are not an island and as such will continue to be influenced by the prevalent National Environment, on matters of morals & ethics in public life, which is least inspiring. But this is too simplistic a refrain to justify the progressive and consistent decline in the  perceivable standards of   righteousness, obtaining in the Army. The Armed Forces by virtue of their role, design, organization and training are inspired, led and motivated by an inviolable culture of character, competence, courage and selflessness. The Officers and Soldiers of the Forces are committed to an Oath of Allegiance, Creed and a Code of Conduct, which ennobles uprightness towards their duty and in their conduct.

In a hierarchical Organization, such as the Armed Forces, authority follows a Top Down Model and is delegated for ease of operational, management and administrative functioning. Enmeshed into this endowed authority, is the personal authority which flows from the leadership qualities of those entrusted with the privilege and responsibility to lead and command, within the confines of the structure . As such, seniority of rank and office assumes great significance in the positional authority matrix of the Forces, in the decision making and command & control process. While personal authority continues to be overarching and dovetailed, facilitating collective performance and goal realization. Role models emerge from the practice of personal than positional leadership.

 Restricting and focusing myself to the Army, there is an authorized strength of approximately 44,000 officers, of which about 75% are in the non empanelled (Lt Col and below) rank and 25% in the select (Col and above) rank. For this major and huge percentage of officers to evolve and transit into the category of select rank officers, career advancement and management is ensured through an elaborate training, learning and evaluation process. Hands on command  & control experience, assists and hones the necessary skills for wielding authority in a progressive trajectory of career growth. An assessment system for evaluating an officer on demonstrated variables and performance qualities, including his potential for growth and ability to handle the responsibility of the next rank, is built into the Army’s management edifice. The Annual Confidential Report (ACR) system is a time tested and sustainable tool of management practice and serves the needs of most Armies and Organizations, the world over. Therefore, in a competitive and  steeply pyramidical structure, such as what we have in the Army; all other things being equal, the ACR is a critical input for Selection/Rejection of an officer for empanelment and subsequent promotion, to the next higher rank. In the context of the downward slide of morals and ethics amongst officers, the ACR has emerged as the most probable killing ground, for causing maximum damage to its honorable culture. It is from the killing fields of the Selection Boards held in South Block that, mediocrity is also thrown up to occupy positions of higher rank and office. Among deserving and capable officers who are promoted, we also get a significant percentage of Select Rank Officers who are driven by lucre than character. Their purpose and aim is to continue upwards in their career, even when this is based on the credulity of the soldiers they command.

This above postulate is sustained by an increasingly visible pattern, which has unfolded itself over the past decade, specially. A significant and critical percentage of Senior Officers have either been indicted or else punished for a large Laundry List comprising wrongs, unbecoming conduct, corruption and manipulation of trust, in their professional conduct. Subordinate officers in the chain of command and local hierarchy have been manoeuvered and compromised by these same officers, by a subtle and often brazen arm twisting to evince compliance from them in these scurrilous and self serving deeds, by the underlying threat of botching up their ACR. While the subordinate officers cannot fend off blame, for want of showing courage of their convictions and not showing spine while succumbing to the despicable and devious suggestions/nudges of their unscrupulous superior officers. The rot which has gripped our Service Culture and is driven by the  market practice of achieving short term success at all costs, is largely responsible for the sorry state we find ourselves in, today. The root of the problem, in so far as lack of Military Motivation in the Army is considered, is caught up in a Catch 22 situation, wherein some of those vested with the Official Authority to promote and sustain official and personal rectitude and probity in their conduct and dealings, are also the perpetrators of the wrongs and misdeeds. To day, we have only local pockets  of righteousness prevailing, which are sustained more by individuals than the weight and force of the monolith, we call the Army. The situation should be quite otherwise, where the System provides and ensures a transparent, honorous and inspiring environment, which celebrates Military Motivation.

It may well be worth comprehending the extent of damage, which the erring and senior officers, who embroiled themselves and their subordinate officers in infamy and chagrin; have caused to the Army, its culture and image. Is it any wonder then that, the public perception of Senior Army Officers is in a trough. Given the Role of the Military, where soldiers may even be led to making a supreme and final sacrifice of their lives for the Country, demands of its Officership a zero tolerance to corruption, embezzlement and self serving practices. Therefore, it is not alright of the Raksha Mantri to say that the Armed Forces are much better off than many other organizations, in so far as proceeding against those found guilty of having indulged in acts of corruption. The comparison is a platitude to boot and quite odious. In the entire matter of the COAS’s position on dealing with his Principal Staff Officer embroiled in the “Sukhna Land Scam” and taking appropriate action against him, he has been found wanting in displaying Character and Courage expected of the exalted Institution of CHIEF. It remains a matter of conjecture, whether Lt Gen HCS Panag (retd), PVSM,AVSM was right in taking a stand against his move from the Northern Command on posting, only because his penchant for dealing against the many financial scams which had occurred previously, could become a cause for embarrassment for General Deepak Kapoor. I come back to my initial point about being correctly oriented and hardwired to make a choice of the harder Right than the easier Wrong. This is what is understood by having and showing character.

How can the majority of Officers be held hostage, by a small but critical percentage (about 5%) of Senior Officers, who have used the System to their advantage and brought ignominy upon themselves and the Organization? The answer to overcome this virus of ill gotten success, unlawful ambition and lack of morals, probably lies in the practice of CHARACTER DRIVEN LEADERSHIP, which is a matter of Choice exercised from within ones conscience than from the cleverness of one’s mind. I do hope that the COAS Designate will give the required importance and priority to the issue of declining morals and ethics in the conduct of Officers, and make it his KEY RESULT AREA for achievement and restoring the image of the Army to its pristine GLORY. To the large and functional majority of the 75% to 85% officers, it will be my advice and inspiration to “have faith in their abilities and the desire to live with the honor of their soul, which only recognizes the merit of a good action”. Show the “AUDACITY of HOPE” to give to yourselves a philosophy that “one man with courage makes the majority”.

Brigadier(retd) S D Dangwal, VSM

Pune-411036

Tele No-020-26804194/09765920745