Soon,commandos to come under single command

[sasi]

http://www.google.com/url?q=http://...IwAzge&usg=AFQjCNG7HXCLmHQVjVnzJqL0kDgNCM3z2A
New Delhi, October 26, 2012
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A plan is afoot to integrate commandoes of the army, navy, air force and the National Security Guard (NSG) under a single command.
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The planning has been goingon for the last three and a half years or so. It will result in a single commando force forspecial and incisive operations.
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"As many as 15,000 well-trained men with sophisticated weapons, who are supported by sound logistics, will come under a single command," said an official familiar with the developments.
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The plan has received a fillip after being recommended by the Naresh Chandra Committee, a 14-member task force on national security, which submitted its report to the government in August.
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"A combined force for operating in absolutely covertconditions is long overdue. Most countries, except India, have such forces," said retired Lt Gen PC Katoch, who commanded special forces in Sri Lanka.
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Understandably, this force willoperate both within India and abroad.
At present, the Indian Army has about five battalions of para commandoes with another three in the pipeline, the navy has two marine commando battalions- popularly known as Marcos - while the air force has the Garuds numbering about 1,500 commandoes. The elite NSG has five battalions for special operations, excluding substantial numbers of fighters who take care of VIP security.
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The commandoes to be commanded by a Lt General of the army will have capabilitiesand skills to battle it out on land, air and sea and will have the facilities to reach anywhere within the shortest possible time.
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Incidentally, last Friday, PM Manmohan Singh had indicated his intent when he called for synergy among the armed forces for "comprehensive responses".'We should aim to abandon single service or segmented approaches and develop synergies across services. Compartmentalised views will only delay our response,' the PM had said addressing top commanders.
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[third eye]

Not sure if this is a good idea.

There is a need for such troops at tactical level. Clubbing them under a separate command & control mechanism may make local commanders lose their flexibility in planning ops involving VE.

 

[janon]

OP, provide the link please. Also, a correction - The army has 8 para (SF) battalions, not five. With three in the pipeline.

Excellent measure, and long overdue.

 

[sasi]

OP, provide the link please. Also, a correction - The army has 8 para (SF) battalions, not five. With three in the pipeline.

Excellent measure, and long overdue.

Source is given. Article mentions 5 para battallions only and another 3 in pipeline.

 

[janon]

Source is given. Article mentions 5 para battallions only and another 3 in pipeline.

I know, but you have to post a link, a web address to the page, that's forum rule.

The army has 11 para batallions, 8 of which are special forces. Here is their official link. It does not mention 11 para (SF) battalion since it is a recently raised unit, but mentions the other 7 ones:

Welcome to The Parachute Regiment

Quoting WP:

With the changing scenario in military operations and the need for more special forces units, 2 Para began the conversion process from parachute to special forces role, followed closely by the 3 Para and the 4 Para in the year 2004 and 2005 respectively. Recently 11 Para (SF) became the newest battalion to join the folds of The Parachute Regiment raising the strength of the special forces to eight battalions. The Parachute Regiment presently has eight special forces, three parachute, two Territorial Army and one Counter-Insurgency (Rashtriya Rifles) battalions in its fold.

 

[Splurgenxs]

a really good decision.

Not sure if this is a good idea.

There is a need for such troops at tactical level. Clubbing them under a separate command & control mechanism may make local commanders lose their flexibility in planning ops involving VE.

How will a centralized C&C restrict flexibility?

a centralized system would only mean faster response time,consolidated effort with units used efficiently.
This also means tht the units tht gain veteran status and are battle hardened, would be called upon more frequently and efficiently;
amateurs grunts tht get recruited separately in separate commands will come under a unifed command and have the opportunity to train with the best..

 

[arp2041]

If i m not wrong, than Abing was talking about the same in an earlier thread about 3 new all forces command, he talked about having a single command of Air force, navy & army commandos on the lines of SOCOM. IMO, it's a great idea as having specialist forces under a single command i.e. directly under one head gives them a better environment where they can plan better about various operations & can respond to any emergency better, than having three separate heads.

 

[Alphacharlie]

Officially All Army SOps fall under CENTRAL Commdand which in itself ascts as a Integrated Command cell.

Lining alll SFs under one Umbrella will be fantastic in Managing situational awarness and decision making.

Do Note - All SFs have some what similar Weaps else Marcos

 

[Abingdonboy]

Yes more news on the "Indian SOCOM". However the writer is wrong (possibly by mistake) when he says his will create a single SOF.All existing SOFs are not going to morph into a single super SOF unit. That is NOT the case, the official actually states what his will do is standardise command, logistics, training, funding and training which is a very good idea. This move will seek to best utilise all be strengths of the various SOFs India has and should ensure optimal deployment and training. As it stands it really is the IA SF doing the "heavy lifting" wrt active ops. Yes this is due to their relative size but it is also due to old thinking. Whilst MARCOs and Garuds may be very well trained and equipped it is pretty hard for anyone to actually deploy them as it only reall been the preserve of the IA SF to undergo most active deployments. Now we should we more joint ops and see more mixed combat units. This move should also ensure better gear for all true SOFs aswell as standardisation of equipment. Will be interesting to see how they get on.

 

[COLDHEARTED AVIATOR]

Well..here is how the situation is:-

IA is fighting a war in Kashmir and N-E and we have many Special Operations taking place which are only done by one force ie PARA.Now because of this the PARA's have a lot of burden on them.

It would be a lot helpful if the other two SF started contributing towards the national security and started taking care of atleast one of India's two theatres of war.

Posing with digi-camo uniforms doesnt make you an elite unit its what you have done for the country which matters.The SOCOM is supposed to do that.

No matter how much the fanboys of these two units debate it doesnt matter coz at the end of the day there is only one unit fighting India's war.

So this new command will take out the burden of the PARA...give the other units the experience and make sure we have the right peope at the right place provided we give them a seperate budget too

Whats surprising is that they have included NSG and is a good decision IMHO.

And moreover all these units will be getting the same modernisation that the MARCOS are supposed to get.

P.S-Kindy excuse my partiality for the PARA Commandos...experience in battefield is the only thing i look for when making a favourite.

 

[Abingdonboy]

Well..here is how the situation is:-

IA is fighting a war in Kashmir and N-E and we have many Special Operations taking place which are only done by one force ie PARA.Now because of this the PARA's have a lot of burden on them.

It would be a lot helpful if the other two SF started contributing towards the national security and started taking care of atleast one of India's two theatres of war.

Posing with digi-camo uniforms doesnt make you an elite unit its what you have done for the country which matters.The SOCOM is supposed to do that.

No matter how much the fanboys of these two units debate it doesnt matter coz at the end of the day there is only one unit fighting India's war.

So this new command will take out the burden of the PARA...give the other units the experience and make sure we have the right peope at the right place provided we give them a seperate budget too

Whats surprising is that they have included NSG and is a good decision IMHO.

And moreover all these units will be getting the same modernisation that the MARCOS are supposed to get.

P.S-Kindy excuse my partiality for the PARA Commandos...experience in battefield is the only thing i look for when making a favourite.

Mate I know we've had this discussion in the past but the Garuds and MARCOs are doing their bit whether it is providing QRTs for sensitive airbases or deploying in the Gulf to undertake anti-piracy missions. Also the Garuds and MARCOs do contribute (in a small way) to CT ops in JK this is a fact but if course there is always room for improvement. But it should be noted that IA SF is significantly larger than both other SOFs so it is logical they would see more action.

And yes, AFAIK the SOCOM will get their own budget and their own logistics. This is a real coup for Indian SOFs!!

Wrt NSG I'm not sure how I feel about this. As they are a police unit and will they still be answerable to he MHA? And will it be the entire NSG that comes under SOCOM or just SAG? As SRG has NO place in a SOCOM and I wouldn't want the resources of the PARA (SF), MARCOs and Garuds being sucked up by a protection unit.

And wouldn't this be an ideal time to reorganise IA SF? If PARA (SF) are going to come under SOCOM he links with the regular PARA (Airborne) are going to be severed to a significant degree so why not complety de-link the two entities (SF and Airborne).

 

[COLDHEARTED AVIATOR]

Mate I know we've had this discussion in the past but the Garuds and MARCOs are doing their bit whether it is providing QRTs for sensitive airbases or deploying in the Gulf to undertake anti-piracy missions. Also the Garuds and MARCOs do contribute (in a small way) to CT ops in JK this is a fact but if course there is always room for improvement. But it should be noted that IA SF is significantly larger than both other SOFs so it is logical they would see more action.

And yes, AFAIK the SOCOM will get their own budget and their own logistics. This is a real coup for Indian SOFs!!

Wrt NSG I'm not sure how I feel about this. As they are a police unit and will they still be answerable to he MHA? And will it be the entire NSG that comes under SOCOM or just SAG? As SRG has NO place in a SOCOM and I wouldn't want the resources of the PARA (SF), MARCOs and Garuds being sucked up by a protection unit.

And wouldn't this be an ideal time to reorganise IA SF? If PARA (SF) are going to come under SOCOM he links with the regular PARA (Airborne) are going to be severed to a significant degree so why not complety de-link the two entities (SF and Airborne).

I understand your point but the fact of the matter is that the CRPF is doing more work in Kashmir than MARCOS and GARUD combined...and i am not joking...doesnt this $uck?

There is almost no terrorism in and around the lake they are deployed in...and Gardus are doing QRT job..WooW..Now thats what a SF should be doing.

Like it or not but a SF with no experience is not "special" which is specially the case with Garuds.

Regarding the NSG i think maybe they are planning to transfer the SAG to the SOCOM or atleast some units of the SAG and moreover there was this news of some 900 SRG Commondos being converted to SAG.

And wouldn't this be an ideal time to reorganise IA SF? If PARA (SF) are going to come under SOCOM he links with the regular PARA (Airborne) are going to be severed to a significant degree so why not complety de-link the two entities (SF and Airborne).

I didnt get your point.

 

[Abingdonboy]

I didnt get your point.

What I was trying to say was right now the situation with non-SF and SF btns coming under a single unit (the PARA regmt) kind of works but not the SF elemants are going to come under a completly new command with a complelty different budget and logistics chain isn't it a good time for the IA SF to be de-linked with the PARA regmt? The IA SF should be christened somthing new and the PARA (Airborne) can continue being called the PARAs as that is their primary role (Airborne infantry). I understand why the situation right now is what it is because the PARA (SF) componant was intially derived from the PARA (Airborne) unit but it is time for the relationship to end. No?

 

[COLDHEARTED AVIATOR]

What I was trying to say was right now the situation with non-SF and SF btns coming under a single unit (the PARA regmt) kind of works but not the SF elemants are going to come under a completly new command with a complelty different budget and logistics chain isn't it a good time for the IA SF to be de-linked with the PARA regmt? The IA SF should be christened somthing new and the PARA (Airborne) can continue being called the PARAs as that is their primary role (Airborne infantry). I understand why the situation right now is what it is because the PARA (SF) componant was intially derived from the PARA (Airborne) unit but it is time for the relationship to end. No?

Ya...I wish that happens.

 

[arp2041]