EMPLOYEMENT OF SPECIAL FORCES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE FUTURE

By V S Yadav

Special Forces and Special Operations offer an option for providing an asymmetric response across the entire spectrum of conflict. An asymmetric response does not automatically imply a physical attack; in most cases, direct action should be only the extreme response. Special Forces are meant to achieve strategic objectives through application of modest resources in a calibrated manner.

With an eye on the future, a seminar was held at CENJOWS which was aimed at examining various alternatives for optimal employment of Indian SF, in pursuit of national security goals with a proactive mindset. Various aspects were covered by eminent speakers from India and other countries. This book is based on the seminar proceedings.

• Language: English
• Publisher: VIJ Books (India) Pty Ltd
• Release date: Jul 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9789381411698

Book preview

SEMINAR

EMPLOYMENT OF SPECIAL FORCES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE FUTURE

INAUGURAL SESSION

OPENING REMARKS

MAJOR GENERAL(RETD) KB KAPOOR, VSM

Air Chief Marshal PV Naik, Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) and Chief of Air Staff, Vice Admiral VK Joshi, Chief of Integrated Staff to Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC), Headquarter Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS), Lt Gen AS Lamba, Vice Chief of Army Staff, Gen Kalkat, Mr Baranwal, CMD of SP Guide Publications, eminent panelists, senior officers, both serving and retired from the Army, officers from the defence services, members of media- Ladies and gentlemen. I welcome you all to this seminar on Employment of Special Forces, Challenges and Opportunities for the Future. This seminar is being jointly organised by Headquarter IDS, SP Guide Publications and Centre for Joint Warfare Studies. We are honoured by the presence of the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee, who guides and oversees the evolution and employment of Special Forces (SF) in defence services also by the distinguished members of the fraternity forces from home and abroad.

History is replete with examples of actions carried out by small teams of Special Forces which have changed not only the course of operations but also of the war. These men with extra-ordinary courage, dedication, abundant initiative, indomitable spirit and with scant respect to their personal safety have achieved results where conventional forces could not be employed. Some of these actions have been documented while a lot of them remained shrouded in mystery because of political and security reasons. Special Forces have been used from time immemorial; some of the examples are specialised units of Hamilcar Barsca of Sicily. Specialised units of Knight Templars in Crusade wars, Ninjas of China and Japan, even the employment of such forces also find mention in the Indian military writings of Kautiliya. But it is in the latter half of the 20th century that Special Forces have come into higher prominence.

Governments discovered that objectives can sometimes be achieved by small teams of anonymous specialists than a larger, much more politically controversial conventional deployment, the most recent examples of these being, Kosovo and Afghanistan. The future wars are going to be fought in the spectrum encompassing from nuclear, conventional, sub-conventional as also in the domains of land, sea, undersea, air, space and even cyber space. The success against a superior and evenly matched adversary will be achieved by creating asymmetry. This is the space where the task of Special Forces would emerge. Their mission, thus, lies in geo-strategic, strategic operations or tactical level and may be politico-military in nature like the ill-fated raid of British commandos in Libya last week.

The era has also witnessed the mushrooming of Special Forces like Green Berets, Special Operation Group, Naval Seals, SAS etc. In India too, we had a similar trend of raising Parachute Commandos, Marcos, Garuds of Defence Services, and Special Action Groups of NSG, Cobra of Andhra Pradesh and a host of others, under the Centre and State police forces. In all the wars India has fought, these forces have merely been used at the tactical level. At times, mathematical distribution of Special Forces is done at the tactical level. More recently, only limited employment of these forces has been seen in low intensity conflict and insurgency. Do these highly trained and motivated units have a role at geo-strategic level both in war and peace? As the emerging regional power, we have to look at our area of interest from Straits of Hormuz to Straits of Malacca. Do we have a defined role for our forces or such forces in our area of interest? Also, who should plan their employment, their training, their equipping and career progression? These are some of issues that we would deliberate in the next two days and I am sanguine that our panelists with their experience, would enlighten us and show us the way ahead.

The proceedings of the seminar along with the recommendations of Centre for Joint Warfare Studies will be one of the inputs to Headquarter Integrated Defence Staff for the evolution of a doctrine on employment of Special Forces, which on finalisation, will be put up to Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee who is present with us today. With these words I will now request Admiral DK Joshi, CISC, Headquarter IDS, to address the Seminar.

ADDRESS

VICE ADMIRAL DK JOSHI, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, NM, VSM

Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee and Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal, PV Naik, General Lamba, Vice-Chief of Army Staff, General Lidder, erstwhile CISC, General Kalkat, Director Emeritus CENJOWS, invitees from friendly foreign countries, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. At the outset I would like to extend a very warm welcome to each one of you and in particular convey our sincere thanks to Chairman, COSC for having accepted our invitation to deliver the Key Note Address at the inaugural session of this seminar. Amongst eminent panelists for the seminar, we have speakers from Israel, France, Germany and the former head and Colonel Commandant of the famed SAS from UK. The rich experience accumulated under difficult combat conditions should provide us with considerable food for thought. I am sure that participants look forward to their presentations with a great deal of anticipation.

History is replete with the examples of spectacular and successful missions undertaken by Special Forces which have often turned the tide in a war. While there is a need to retain core competencies and individualities of services or arms, as in every other form of warfare, in special operations too, there is an overriding requirement of interoperability and jointness without which success would be difficult to come by. Lack of coordination between individual components has often been cited as an impediment to achieving desired outcomes from a SF Mission. I am sure, that the participants will address these issues in sufficient depth and at appropriate levels. In the November 2008 operation in Mumbai, to weed out terrorists, SF operations again came into sharp focus. Though, it was essentially a counter terrorism operation, the importance of correct equipment and training, while operating in an urban setting, was highlighted in ample measure. I am confident that with the participation from the industry in this seminar we should be able to take forward the process of identifying evolving technologies, suitable to the Indian context.

In trying to conceive a vision for Special Forces, we realise that there are many factors which are inter-twined, ranging from policy and national security interests at the macro level to an effective command and control organisation at the execution level. Equipping and training Special Forces requires an efficient supporting organisational structure that is vibrant and stays ahead of the game. The special operations command architectures of different countries would certainly be a model to be examined so as to arrive at a structure of Special Forces that suits us best. Experts would debate such issues over the next two days and arrive at a way ahead in the concluding session. More than anything else, I believe, it is the fleet footedness, agility, the ability to think quickly on their feet and innovate, to adapt rapidly to dynamic situations that sets apart a successful SF operation from an embarrassment. It will seldom happen that local support, background intelligence and complete knowledge of a rapidly evolving situation are available in an ideal manner.

SF operatives will constantly need to cultivate a mindset to succeed against overwhelming odds. To illustrate this mindset that I am talking about, I can do no better than recite a few lines from Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil’s poem "Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna". Those of you who saw the movie Rang De Basanti would readily recall these lines. Haath jin main ho junoon kat te nahi talwar se, sur jo uth jate hain wo jhukte nahi lalkaar se, aur bhadkega jo shola sa hamare man main hai, sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil main hai". This junoon or the fanatical kind of mindset, I believe, is a critical requirement apart from training, equipping and preparedness as the key to successful SF operations. To borrow from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous. To my mind, SF operatives have to be lean and hungry, not in the physical sense but in the sense of craving for successful operations against overwhelming odds. They have to be thinking men. They have to be dangerous men. With these gentlemen, I request Chairman COSC to deliver his keynote address.

KEY NOTE ADDRESS

AIR CHIEF MARSHAL PV NAIK, PVSM, VSM, ADC

Vice Admiral Joshi, General Kalkat, General Kapoor, Shri Jayant Baranwal, distinguished guests in the audience from India and abroad. From my physique, I am sure; all of you have understood that I am not a Special Forces man. Once upon a time I could have been but not now. Well, all the same, it is a pleasure to be amongst you and be amongst the acclaimed strategists and extremely experienced professionals to deliberate upon a subject which has a growing significance in today’s evolving security scenario. It is certainly not about licence to kill but more about capability to enforce the will and I will come back to this a little later.

The realities in today’s world are much more threatening as compared to the glamorous fiction of 007 James Bond and his heart in the mouth antics. Commandos laddering down to the roof top at Nariman Point or SAS evacuating their citizens are more frequent today as is the evolution of the Bonds into their new avatar. So what is it that makes all of us talk so much about Special Forces operations more today than say yesterday or the day before? Structured military activities have always required the support of specialised assets in order to achieve their objectives. Hence, Special Forces have gained in prominence over the years. It has been found that certain objectives can easily be achieved, like it was brought out by the speakers before me, by a small team of specialists than a larger and much more politically controversial deployment. Carved out from the regular armed forces cadre or security forces, Special Forces are high value assets and this is one point that we need to keep in mind, throughout, highly capable of delivering effects, disproportionate to their size. If you look at today’s, what I call fourth generation warfare, it basically encompasses, attempts to circumvent or undermine the enemy’s strengths while exploiting his weaknesses. This warfare thrives on using methods that differ substantially from the opponent’s usual modus-operandi. Now throughout their evolution during the 20th and 21st century, the Special Forces units have had many spectacular successes in achieving national objectives also. No wonder that the mention of Special Forces certainly fills us with a bit of overwhelming kind of awe and respect for these brave men. Legends abound about having six drinks and thereafter eating the glass tumbler and then running 25 miles to capture an objective. All of us have heard these legends. Some of them are true.

In today’s era of fierce wars and intense conflicts, sub-conventional threats assume greater significance. Neutralising threats across the entire spectrum of conflicts, poses challenges which are quantitatively and qualitatively different. Hence, ladies and gentlemen, we need to cater to a full spectrum of threats from nuclear confrontation, through conventional war to conflicts limited in area, scope or objectives. We need, therefore, a full range of capabilities with the ability to dynamically swing between them. Future conflicts, as I am sure all of you will agree, are likely to be swift, sharp, intense as well as more challenging and more unpredictable. They will require a capability for assured calibrated and flexible responses as well as a projection of national power in all forms. Being a combat aviator, I understand the pivotal position that Special Forces occupy in the prosecution of military operations and I am aware that these are the forces that can be surgically employed in conflict scenarios to achieve your aims. The fact that a lot of nations are downsizing their armed forces and adding muscle to their Special Forces, says it all.

There is much to learn from the experience of special operations across the world be it Iran, Iraq and now Afghanistan, which have demonstrated the increasing employability and viability of Special Forces. All successful and some not so successful missions like Entebbe, Mogadishu, the Iranian Embassy seize etc, need political and military backing for success of any kind. The current Libyan crisis where British and German Special Forces came for specialised operations and evacuation of their citizens, has reiterated the fact that Special Forces are going to be the x-factor for achieving national objectives. Obviously why India should be left behind? Well all of us understand that Special Forces can be employed for strategic, operational as well as tactical roles. We are also aware that SF operations include a multitude of operations inclusive of suppression of enemy air defence (SEAD), counter air, close air support etc. What is important is understanding their high value significance. The fact is that SF operations are intrinsically joint but different from conventional forces. And that they are not really a substitute for conventional forces, be it unconventional warfare, counter-terrorism, psy-ops or counter proliferation, roles are plenty. But for each role, Special Forces will always be dependent on detailed intelligence, intimate and responsive command and control as they have the ability to by-pass all sea or land objectives. The planning also has to cater for mobility, counter-mobility, survivability, fire support, communications, link-ups etc. And hence, planning is as important as the execution.

In today’s warfare where there is a blur between war and politics, soldiers and civilian targets, peace and conflict, battle field or fratricide, there is a big challenge in SF operations. Additional challenges include integration with conventional forces as well as government agencies, when needed. However, in all this, the Special Forces must preserve their autonomy to protect and encourage the unconventional approach, which is the soul of SF. On the part of powers that be, there is an inability, I feel, to conceptualise the application of special operations theory and doctrines, especially in our context. Added to it, there is an inexplicable reluctance on the part of our military to forge an integrated joint services approach towards the SF and special operations. All this is because, in my opinion, even the military poorly understands SF capabilities and they see the SF as the shadow guys, who go and fight their own war. While I do not wish to dwell on aspects that are best left to experts, I do hope the seminar examines the issue of concept of employment of Special Forces in its entirety, during the next couple of days.

In India we have ten thousand plus Special Forces. They are scattered, service specific or domain specialised. The question is do we have a national vision or policy for the employment and the risk taking of these forces? As you know, there is political fallout for the kind of missions undertaken by Special Forces. Now, while political will can change overnight, the capability cannot be built overnight. In the current scenario when sometimes adversaries dictate the rules of engagements, we require to act swiftly, flexibly and decisively. The reaction time would ultimately decide the outcome of a mission. In crisis situations, Special Forces could create the much needed headways in unpredictable ways and enable conventional forces to regroup, plan and strike. Therefore, a quicker reaction time would mean that we pack some essentials into this tight knitted entity. The Special Forces must have a flatter command and structure, high mobility, flexibility in thought and action, sound intelligence, communications back-up, technological superiority and the biggest advantage of all secrecy and security, both during peace and war. These vital constituents make these forces adaptable, lethal units, capable of achieving limited objectives and what is important is thereby opening a large number of options to the national leadership. In times of crisis like the 26/11 incident in Mumbai, what the leadership needed were options. So Special Forces could create many more options for the national leadership in times of National crisis. It is important that first we clearly identify the roles for missions within our sphere of operations; deliberations during the seminar should provide you with good pointers in this direction. Thank you and Jai Hind.

VOTE OF THANKS

MR JAYANT BARANWAL

Air Chief Marshal PV Naik, Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee and Chief of Air Staff, Vice Admiral VK