The Greatest Ever Soldier of Modern Indian Army Was an Amateur One

Robert Clive can truly be hailed as the greatest ever soldier of the modern Indian army which primarily inherits the legacy of the British. First raised as a part-time military outfit called the Companie of Trained Band in 1645 at Fort St George, Madras, the modern Indian army has evolved  to a complete full-time status. But, this journey can never told without a glorified mention of Robert Clive who initially volunteered himself as a part-time soldier to release his martial dispositions but gradually went on to become the prime architect of the British Raj in India.

Battle of Arcot and the famous Battle of Plassey are the prominent feats where the amateurish approach of Clive in pure military terms can no doubt be hailed as the military genius. It was only on this day on 9 June 1752 that the professional army of French East Indian Company surrendered to the amateur army of British East India Company led by Clive. To get a full account of the battle, please refer this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arcot

Profile of Robert Clive

Major General Robert Clive (29 September 1725 - 22 November 1774), 1^st Baron Clive, K.B also known as the Clive of Plassey began his career as a Writer in the East India Company in 1744. The period was of great turbulences for British dominance over India as the French, the Dutch, the Portuguese and the native Princely states were all fighting for it. He volunteered himself as a part-time soldier to release his martial dispositions at Fort St George, Madras and was greatly responsible for the defeat of French and later Siraj-ud-Daula, the young Nawab of Bengal at the battle of Plassey on 23 June 1757. This battle in fact, laid the foundations of complete British rule over India. He also assisted Captain Stringer Lawrence (a superannuated British army officer hired by the East India Company who is also called as the father of modern Indian army) in raising India’s Regular Army before becoming the Governor General at Calcutta. In the year 1759, he raised a battalion of European volunteers to keep the Dutch at bay in Calcutta which was later called as the Calcutta Light Horse.

(Published by the team of TERRITORIALS)

US NATIONAL GUARD TRAINING PROVIDES SOLDIERS WITH THE SKILLS THEY NEED TO SURVIVE

US National Guards is a part-time military component of the US armed forces which along with the US Reserves accounts up to 58 percent of the overall military strength. This article is interesting in a sense that how much emphasis is given to part-time concept in the United States and how effectively they are trained to have been deployed all over the world for international commitments.
"This man is playing the part of an Iraqi sniper, pretending to shoot at National Guard troops who are learning how to protect themselves while on a convoy. As they travel down a road at Camp Shelby in Mississippi, canisters burst with smoke representing mock roadside bombs. For many of these soldiers, it's all new. Lieutenant Anderson, a National Guard platoon leader from Wisconsin says, 'Once the booms start happening, and bullets start flying, the confusion sets in. So this is one of those things that needs to be constantly rehearsed. Army Captain Kevin O'Connell, who trained police in Iraq, knows the danger of roadside bombs first-hand. He's showing these troops how to avoid the bombs, also known as improvised explosive devices or IEDs. 'Now if you stopped anywhere, and you didn't plan on stopping there, something made you stop, whether it's an IED, a truck in the road, anything. That's because that's where the bad guys want you to stop.'
Remote triggering devices such as cell phones and radios are being used to detonate IEDs. In Iraq, they can explode several bombs almost simultaneously. National Guardsman Wayne Winstead says the telltale wires connected to the roadside bombs are well hidden, in garbage, straw, or even animal carcasses. 'Things that are not obvious anymore are the wires hanging off the road, or antennas and things like that.'
Most of the men and women in the National Guard are part-time, and range in age from 17 to 60. They hold a variety of jobs or are students. The National Guard provides help with natural disasters and other emergencies in the U.S., but also serves as a military backup during war.
Currently, the National Guard and other military reserve units make up about 40 percent of the forces in Iraq. At Camp Shelby, National Guard soldiers spend up to six months learning the skills they need to survive.
Army Major Art Sharpe is a public affairs officer at the 70-kilometer square camp. He says of the training, 'We try to create as close as possible, to replicate, the conditions they're likely to face as they go down range.
This also includes searching for insurgents in Iraqi villages, and protecting themselves from snipers hidden in fields. The soldiers also learn how to maintain checkpoints, and handle hostile villagers, which in one training exercise ends with smoke, representing tear gas, which is used to disperse the crowd.
Major Sharpe, who is 47 and a judge in civilian life, spent six months in Iraq, training people for the new Iraqi army. He says this training is meant to make soldiers think before they act. 'For example, there were times when I could have shot someone myself in Iraq. And if I had been a nervous 18-year-old, I probably would have shot the individual. As it were, I paused, I waited, I gave the guy the benefit of the doubt. I analyzed the situation as it developed and I chose not to shoot the person. And it turned out to be the right decision.'
Twenty-year-old Guardsman William Johnson, a jazz musician, is being deployed to Iraq in the next few weeks and thinks the training will help him, 'We learned a lot today. This is very valuable training that we need to do, and I'm glad we made a lot of mistakes.'

Like other soldiers, he says he'd rather make them now, than in life-and-death situations in Iraq."

Source: http://www.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2005-08-10-voa30-67539412.html

(Published by the team of TERRITORIALS)

PART-TIME FORCES AFTER 1857

India's part-time forces were completely reorganized after the Great Indian Mutiny of 1857. This was primarily with an objective of avoiding any future conflict of similar nature with a better response mechanism. The idea was two fold; to train and arm all British civilians in the art of soldiering so that they are able to respond to any contingency and also to provide standing reserves to reinforce the regular forces.

The British Crown now in power, was ruthlessly expanding its area of influence in the Indian subcontinent and wanted a strong professional military force rather than an amateurish one. But also, it was equally concerned on the cost factor and the strength of British civil society which could only be ensured with the concept of part-time soldiering. A new force therefore, was reconstituted from amongst the existing part-time units and renamed as the Volunteer Force of India (VFI).  This eventually was headed by an Inspector General at the army headquarters. Madras Volunteer Guards was the senior most unit  being raised on the 2nd July 1857 and perhaps was kept together till 1862 with a success hitherto attained by no other Volunteer Corps or Company in India. It was stationed at the garrison of Fort Saint George, Madras. On the 18th July 1857, Act XXIII of 1857 was passed to provide for the good order and discipline of certain Volunteer Corps.

A similar force was already existing in other British colonies which perhaps were constituted with a prime objective of giving strength to the empire. Matching well on the battlefield, the VFI also performed splendidly in various quarters of war both in India and abroad and the testimony can be found in various British notifications. On such account of gallantry was performed by the part-time soldiers of Lumsdon’s Horse at South Africa during the famous Anglo-Boer War in 1899. This was also the time when Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (later known as the father of nation) served as Sergeant Major M K Gandhi with one of the part-time units there.

(Published by the team of TERRITORIALS) 

INDIAN TERRITORIAL ARMY

Lieutenant Colonel (Honorary) Kapil Dev, Territorial Army

Popularly known as the Citizens' Army, Territorial Army is an organization of gainfully employed Indian citizens who are not professional soldiers but amateurs who have a passion and love for the country and who are eager to contribute their spare time for obtaining military training so that, in the event of a national emergency, they can play their part to meet the internal security needs and contribute their might in the defence of their motherland.

They are recruited, trained and organized like those of the professionals to form a pool of reserves at a very minimum cost. This pool can be mobilized during any form of national emergency to augment the strength of regular forces. Although, Territorials serve for a very limited duration to train themselves as soldiers, most of them attain good professional standards over a period of training and service.

The Territorial Army is an integral part of the Indian Army as defined in paragraph one, chapter one and part one of the Defence Service Regulations which states,

"The army comprises, Regular Army, Regular Reserves, and the Territorial Army."

The Regular Army as per chapter one, paragraph 3 (217xxi) of the Army Act 1950,

"Regular Army means officers, junior commissioned officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and other enrolled persons who, by their commission, warrant, terms of enrollment or otherwise, are liable to warrant, terms of enrollment or otherwise, are liable to Union in any part of the world, including persons belonging to the Reserve Forces and the Territorial Army when called out on permanent service."

The present role of Territorial Army is:

• To relieve the Regular Army from static duties, assist civil administration in dealing with natural calamities and maintenance of essential services in situations where life of the communities is affected or security of the country is threatened and to provide support to national efforts.
•  To provide units for Regular Army, as and when, required.

The conceptual framework for the Territorial Army is based on the fundamental idea that it should exist for war-time employment, and should be maintainable at the lowest cost during peace time. The concept encompasses the employment of disciplined, dedicated and a low cost force of gainfully employed citizens from all walks of life to supplement and augment the resources of Regular Army. These citizens on joining undergo a short period of rigorous training, which makes them reasonably competent soldiers. Subsequently, they join units from 14 days to a maximum of 60 days every year for refresher training and to keep in touch with the art of soldiering.

Note:- Article compiled from open sources.

(Published by the team of Territorials)

ORIGIN OF INDIA'S TERRITORIAL FORCES

Origin of India’s territorial forces can be traced back to the arrival of East India Company in the first quarter of the seventeenth century. After the charter to trade in India was granted, few merchant adventurers along the some surgeons embarked upon on a voyage under the flagship of John’s Company and arrived on an Indian coast. These surgeons eventually played a key role in obtaining many valuable concessions from the Mughal Empire due to their superior medical skills and the company managed to get a firmaan to establish their factories followed by forts. It is interesting to note that the successors of same surgeons were later formed into the Indian Medical Service (which in present form is the Army Medical Corps of the Indian Army) wherein they used to be mobilized as soldiers in times of crises.

In the year 1645, East India Company requested their Directors in London to allow them to form a body of trained band which could be given military tasks. The Board of Directors replied in affirmative and a Companie of Trained Band was constituted at Fort St George, Madras from among the civilian employees of the company. Their task was to safeguard company’s commercial interests from the ever aggressive French, Dutch, Portuguese and the local princely states.

This band was loosely based on the structure of Trained Bands which existed in England at that point of time and the training used to be conducted during weekends. The body was pivotal in defending the East India Company and making it a force to reckon with.

Somewhere in the forth decade of eighteenth century a man called Robert Clive arrived on the Indian scene and completely changed the destiny of this country. Making a humble beginning with a meager job of a lower division clerk, he volunteered for part-time military service in the Companie of Trained Band. Slowly but surely he kept on rising and was granted the Ensign’s commission due to his exploits against the French. The man created history by defeating Siraj-ud- Daula in the famous battle of Plassey near Murshidabad in 1757 wherein an army of around ten thousand soldiers with mostly part-timers defeated a much larger army of over a lakh aided by the French. The battle was a complete turnaround for the East India Company which now was ruling the eastern part of India.

1759 onwards, the company decided to restructure the part-time force and began raising of units organized on the lines of regular army. These units were created from among the nucleus of the existing part-time units and thus we can say that the present Indian armed forces actually evolved out of the part-timers…

(Published by the team of Territorials)

TERRITORIAL ARMY

Formation of citizens’ armed forces, which provide, to the youth engaged in civilian professions, opportunities and facilities for military training and thereby constitute a reserve of trained manpower for ‘ effective national defence in the event of an emergency’ is the direct result of the changed nature and character of modern war.

Modern warfare (termed in military terminology as the fourth generation warfare) has not only greatly extended the area of conflict and the impact of fighting but it has completely wiped out the traditional difference between the ‘actual fighting lines and civilian population in the rear’. Entire areas and entire people have become the objective of warfare today. Since no country can afford to maintain regular armed forces, large enough to effectively meet the changes posed by modern warfare, the answer has been the formation of citizens’ armed forces, described variously as second line of defence, part time auxiliaries, territorial armies, citizen armies, auxiliary forces, militias, reserve forces, national guards, etc.

In India, the territorial army constitutes a vital component of Indian army which provides to the working youth, military training to develop their personality, built up character and create a reserve of trained manpower, necessary for the rapid expansion of regular army in the event of an emergency.

(Published by the team of Territorials)

INDIA'S TERRITORIAL FORCES

COMING SOON....
This new Blog aims to analyse the past, present and future trends of India's territorial forces...