What Makes Soldiers Keep Going On In The Face Of Grave Danger?

  

The battle of Saragarhi is one of the greatest last stand, which was fought between 21 Sikh Soldiers vs around 10,000 Afgan Tribesmen on September 12, 1897. The Sikh soldiers, though heavily outnumbered, displayed unparalleled courage and valour. All 21 Sikh Soldiers laid down their lives while defending Saragarhi.

 

The Signal man Gurmukh Singh was the last man standing. He was the youngest among them, 19 years old. He engaged in hand to hand combat with the enemy and killed 20 of them while shouting their battle cry “ Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal,” before he breathed his last.

 

Saluting their bravery, a British officer who was the second-in-command of the 36 Sikh Regiment, called the martyred Sikh Soldiers of Saragarhi “men of mine”. The officer, Major Charles Des Voeux, added that “they died fighting like demons.”

 

Every one is scared of death, even the soldier who is fighting enemy at the border or facing militants in counter insurgency operations. As such, Motivating soldiers to move ahead in the face of grave danger to their lives is an daunting task.

 

In a combat situation, it is not the machine but the man behind the machine which matters. It does not matter how sophisticated your weapon system is, but at the end it matters how driven or committed are the soldiers who are operating them.

 

I am enumerating a few strategies used to motivate soldiers to get up and get going despite all odds:

 

Shared vision- One Goal

 

All the soldiers have a common goal to defend their motherland from any and every aggressor. When they joined the Army, they took oath to lay down their lives, while defending integrity and sovereignty of their country. It is every soldier’s dream to fight for his country.

 

During the war or war like situation their passion, their dream is ignited. They are reminded of their oath and the reason for their existence. This cause is so big that it engulfs all fears and doubts.

 

 

Appealing to Their Noblest Motives

 

Every man is always striving for a defining moment in his life. The moment which makes him, his family and the country proud. The moment which is beyond earning bread, which provides meaning to his life.

 

In the Army, Soldier is part of a family called Battalion. When he goes to fight, he is fighting for the honour of his battalion his family and not to for himself.

 

The team leader, appeals to his noble intention of the meaning in life, honour of his battalion, his family. This fuels him with purpose and passion.

 

 

 

As I mentioned in the previous para, all the soldiers of a unit live like a family. Out of 12 months of a year they live with each other for about 8-9 months. That means they spend more time with their fellow soldiers than their actual family.

 

They develop deep trust in each other. When they go into combat, they know that there back is covered. There are people who care for him and he can count on them during life and death situations.

 

It reminds me of a story of Siachen which was narrated to me by a fellow officer.  A patrol was out in Siachen, world’s highest battle ground.  The patrol encountered a crevasse and one of the soldiers fell deep down into it. It was a catch 22 situation, at one end life of a soldier who had fallen in the crevasse was at stake on the other hand the life of remaining soldiers. No one knew what the depth of the crevasse was, they were not sure if they would be able to take the soldier out alive or not especially with limited resources they had. If the rescue operation failed if could jeopardise lives of other soldiers also.

 

The officer leading the patrol decided to go down the crevasse to rescue the soldier himself . He rappelled down the crevasse and reached close to the fallen soldier, the moment he reached near the soldier, the soldier said, “Sir, I knew you would definitely come to rescue me?”

 

When you have such a trust on your fellow soldiers you would put your life blindly in their hands.

 

They are committed or driven , motivation goes out of the window the moment fist bullet is fired.

 

 

Leadership

 

Chetwode Credo

 The safety, honour and welfare of our country comes first always and every time.

 The honour, welfare and comfort of the men you command come next

 Your own ease, comfort and safety comes last and every-time.

  Field Marshal Philip Chetwode

 

 

The Chetwode Credo is the guiding star of Indian Army Officers. Leading from the form the front is the rich tradition of the Indian Army leaders. They are taught to be in the forefront of every action. For a soldier, there is no bigger motivating/driving factor than his leader leading from the front.

 

I remember being part of an exercise, in the aftermath of attack on Indian Parliament , where in people starting discussing what weapon an officer should carry in an event of a war. One of the Generals said, in a war the officer is not supposed to fight, he is supposed to lead his men, he is supposed to motivate them and ensure that they accomplish the task given to them, hence it does not matter what weapon he carries.

 

The faith in their leader and the knowledge that whatever decision he makes will be in the best interest of their country and theirs, allows the soldiers to follow the instructions given by him without question. There have been many incidents where the Soldiers have taken bullets to protect their leader.

 

 

Stories of Valour

 

Soldiers are narrated stories of valour and courage, especially which they can relate to, from history of their unit, army or the nation. These stories are told to them, to motivate and draw inspiration from.

 

 

Training

 

The More You Sweat in Peace the Less You Bleed in War.

 

This is the motto the Army lives by. When the soldiers are well trained their motivation level goes up. They are confident in facing any enemy as they have faith on themselves.

 

They are trained to fight last man last bullet.

 

 

When you go home tell them of us and say for your tomorrow we gave our today’.

………Inscription on Kohima War Memorial

 

What makes you keep going, when the chips are down? Please share, so that others can also benefit from it.