The toughest of the tough
Being a part of the inter-services, often jovially, we get into jest filled spirit of inter-services rivalry the army vs the air force vs the navy. It’s all in good spirit and the jokes are classic which I’m sorry but they cannot be shared with civilians and yes, this can be taken negatively but you need to be a part of the club to enjoy the perks.
It was once on such an evening that the conversation turned into something serious and my expertise was called in to solve the issue the question was: which job in the armed forces is the hardest. Each field officer debated endlessly but there was no conclusion but they all agreed that this was a question that should be answered. Therefore, I was called in to help settle the debate because of a work I’d done on similar lines a while back.
How do you measure toughness?
Reviewing the literature on the question it was decided that the following things were the dimensions of toughness:
- Physical stress of routine tasks required by the role
- Complexity of the tasks entailed by the role
- Cognitive load: how much does the role stress your brain
- Role dynamics: how much of it rules your life in general
We deliberated on these dimensions in as much detail as possible. We tried to be as empirical as possible and collected as much verifiable information as possible. Here are a few considerations that may have been in the reader’s mind.
The infantarian
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The brunt of the battle, facing bullets and grinders of strategy as well as masters of tactics; most infantry arms officers would spend much of their careers facing tough postings. The physical stress of the role is high; it’s not uncommon for the infantry officer to march with his men and live in hard field conditions. The complexity of the tasks involved are with regard to tactics and positioning of their platoons, company etc but the cognitive load in terms of handling high technical machinery is quite low. As far as role dynamics are concerned then officers are rotated after a hard posting and can get leaves until and unless there are extremely hard circumstances.
The pilot
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The maverick who risks himself with every flight; the physical stress of the role increases especially for fighter pilots who have to pull of high Gs and the aircraft is a beautifully complex machinery; it should come as no surprise to anyone that most crashes are due to human error: so mistakes can be lethal and that is a whole different environment to maneuver in. Moreover, the preparation for any operation requires meticulous planning and sharp execution. However, once the pilot is on ground, he usually goes home which is different from the infantry officer who can see him being isolated from a relaxing environment for a long time.
The toughest job
By far the hardest role to pull off and the toughest job in the armed forces comes to be that of the submariner. In our conversation, this required elaboration especially because we were trying to be empirical here: the submarine is an extremely technical and complex machinery to maneuver. Any mistake can be deadly and there’s little to no chance of rescue or survival especially when in covert ops that the PN routinely takes. The pilot has some time to navigate through an aircraft crashing or eject but a submariner does not have that luxury. The depths will crush you; you cannot swim away from the depth of thousands of tons of water crushing you. The cognitive load is extremely high for ops prep and execution and it needs to be done in synchrony. Every move must be calculated, navigated, tactically thought through and the chance of error is extremely costly.
The hardest thing is that unlike the pilot but similar to the infantarian the submariner would be in hard living conditions. As a pilot becomes senior and so for the infantarian the comforts afforded would increase but even for the CO of a submarine despite being a high commanding officer, he would have a living space where you cannot even turn to your side. Most of the times you cannot smoke and can only eat a very restrictive diet but must have high levels of fitness in order to endure the physically tough and mentally torturous environment of the submarine.
The submariner would be away from his family for any time ranging from 3 – 9 months at a time and communication is scares. There are stories in the PN where officers learnt of their parents passing away while they were on duty and that’s not an exception there. The same place which is your weapon is also your prison.
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An important note
I want to make it clear that this is not a case of bravado. The life of the armed forces is difficult and every one must do their role to their utmost best and that takes a hard toll on the body and the mind. Kindly, respect that this is not meant to be a measuring contest.
This was an exercise to empirically and critically look at each branch, arm and role in the military and learn from each other instead of by trial and error.
Lastly, in terms of prestige in Pakistan the PAF and PA enjoy more prestige because in large parts the people are able to see them in action whereas the PN is sometimes, in my opinion, an underappreciated but still equally formable part of our armed forces and I would like to dedicate this article to those unsung heroes who rule the depths not with fear but unrelenting resolve to be the best defenders of their homeland.
. However it has to be seen as a combined effort. Ultimately that is what is it about.
mohabbat mein mout aaye tou isse barh kar nahi hai chahat, yeh ek jaan kiya hazaar hon tou hazaar tujh per nisaar kar doon"
