A Former US Army Officer Examines the World View of the Indian Military

[hualushui]

I'm afraid even sleep will not cure me of the despair I feel after witnessing your affliction.

Get well soon bro.

 

[Nityam]

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So you are confirming that Indians LOVE India and are patriotic ?

Why is china not on that list ? lol.

 

[Krptonite]

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Aptly put. Clearly, my delusions of grandeur compelled me to ask such basic questions or point out common sense.

Going by your astute logic and informative artwork I've prepared a suitable counter. I hope it matches the level of relevance and elegance of your ripostes.

 

[Tair-Lahoti]

David O. Smith is an independent consultant to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Science Applications International Corporation on issues related to South Asia. He is also a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center. Additionally, he participates in a series of regular engagements with senior Pakistan and India officials sponsored by the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington D.C. He is regularly consulted on Pakistan-related issues by the State Department, the Foreign Service Institute, Georgetown University, the U.S. Army War College, the National Intelligence Council, the Department of Defense, the National Security Council, and several Washington-area think tanks. He retired from government service in May 2012 after serving in a senior executive position in the Defense Intelligence Agency. Prior to that he was Senior Country Director for Pakistan in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Policy) in the Department of Defense.

based on experiences of U.S. students in the Command and Staff College at Quetta, which was published in 2018.
The study’s purpose was to examine the attitudes and values of the Pakistan Army officer corps over a 37-year period from 1977 to 2014; determine if they had changed over time; and identify the drivers of that change.

Key findings of interest to the policy and intelligence communities include the following:
• The background of the top-finishers at the Staff College, those that will rise to the senior ranks, is unchanged despite demographic and social changes in the officer corps.
• The fear of “Islamization” within the officer corps or its susceptibility to radical religious influence is exaggerated. 14 The Quetta Experience
• The U.S. International Military Education and Training (IMET) program is crucial to promoting positive military values in the Pakistan Army.
• There is a “generational divide” about the prioritization of Pakistan’s external and internal threats. A growing number of recent students believe Pakistan-focused militant groups are Pakistan’s most significant military threat, exceeding that posed by India.
• The United States is viewed as a military threat to Pakistan because of the perception that it intends to seize or neutralize Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.
• Neither the Afghan National Army (ANA) nor Afghanistan-focused or Indiafocused militant groups are perceived as credible military threats to the Pakistani state. Only Pakistan-focused militant groups are seen as a threat.
• The Army supports democracy in theory, but is harshly critical of civilian governance in practice.
• The implications of strategic or tactical uses of nuclear weapons are not well understood, and no doctrine for nuclear warfighting is taught at the Staff College. The implications of these findings are both positive and negative for the attainment of U.S. regional objectives.

https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/publication/ap_2018-09-18_thequettaexperience.pdf

 

[letsrock]

Punjab militancy was solved by punjab state police (jat vs jat as KPS gill unfortunately said). Indian military failed in Punjab too.

 

[313ghazi]

Also observed at both institutions were what I described as “negative cultural behaviors” that promote cheating by using previous staff college solutions on exercises, tests, and research papers — what at Wellington is called PCK (previous course knowledge) and at Quetta is called chappa. The use of these techniques is so prevalent that it is part of each institution’s organizational culture. Also common to both institutions is the unwillingness on the part of the Directing Staff and senior officers to tolerate much, if any, creativity or unconventional thinking in exercises or syndicate room discussions. And finally, an evaluation process in both that reinforces the already strong cultural propensity not to question doctrine or the opinions expressed by senior officers.

This really irks me. It bothered me a few years ago too when I read about it in his report about Pakistan. The officer class is well aware of this, unfortunately I don't think the people rising up the ranks have the courage to create waves and try to change things. It'd be interest to see what @PanzerKiel thinks.

The only silver lining is that our enemy is equally as stupid as we are.

Second, both institutions are army-centric in their focus and teach an outdated ground doctrine that virtually all Western students thought was more suited to World War II than a modern battlefield. Both are deficient in inculcating an appreciation for the roles of intelligence, combined arms operations, logistics, and aviation support.

Balochistan says hello. I thought Pakistan would have improved following the war on terror, but i'm not sure this is the case. The Indians have far too much political interference between their military and politics for this sort of thing to take focus.

This emotive lens was in evidence during in wargames and exercises where both sides typically overestimated their own capabilities while simultaneously underestimating those of their putative enemy. Ironically, the top finishers in each institution, typically those who had served abroad in United Nations peacekeeping missions or attended foreign professional military education (PME) institutions — where they had come in contact with each other — did not exhibit such emotive views and admitted that they invariably became good friends in such external settings.

Interesting that the best scoring officers are the ones who've had external experiences. I think in Pakistan we should have an institute within our armed forces that constantly is assigned to learning lessons from other peoples conflicts and devising ways we can benefit from them. Like a never ending Military phD.

This was perhaps the most surprising (and disappointing) finding of the study. All three groups of Indian officers at the DSSC (in all three services) continue to mistrust the United States, which they consider to be neither an ally, a true friend of India, nor a trustworthy security partner.

A smart move by the Indians, albiet in typical Indian manner for all the wrong reasons. You shouldn't distrust America because it supports Pakistan, you should distrust America because America would stab it's own mother in the back to take 1 step forward towards achieving it's own benefit.

 

[Flash_Ninja]

This really irks me. It bothered me a few years ago too when I read about it in his report about Pakistan. The officer class is well aware of this, unfortunately I don't think the people rising up the ranks have the courage to create waves and try to change things. It'd be interest to see what @PanzerKiel thinks.

The only silver lining is that our enemy is equally as stupid as we are.



Balochistan says hello. I thought Pakistan would have improved following the war on terror, but i'm not sure this is the case. The Indians have far too much political interference between their military and politics for this sort of thing to take focus.



Interesting that the best scoring officers are the ones who've had external experiences. I think in Pakistan we should have an institute within our armed forces that constantly is assigned to learning lessons from other peoples conflicts and devising ways we can benefit from them. Like a never ending Military phD.



A smart move by the Indians, albiet in typical Indian manner for all the wrong reasons. You shouldn't distrust America because it supports Pakistan, you should distrust America because America would stab it's own mother in the back to take 1 step forward towards achieving it's own benefit.

It may have been some time since he last observed in Pakistan, there has been some changes bought in the last decade or so. He could be right about the rigidity of officers training, I'd love to see them favour more outside-the-box thinking rather than the candidate who best follows their orders to the letter.

Also I dont know if this is still a problem but there does seem to be a lack of diversity too, it seems most of the officers always come from the same handful of Punjabi/Pashtun tribes.