Soldiers from around the world are heading to North India for field training in counter-insurgency and jungle warfare, before being dispatched to the world’s most troubled hotspots. US commandos are among those learning first-hand from Indian veterans, long-experienced at fighting troubles on their inhospitable northern border. ‘Fight the guerilla, like a guerilla’ – that is the motto of one commando school, located in India’s northeastern state of Mizoram, which itself is troubled by insurgency. Here commandos from India and around the world are given practical and theoretical training on how to cope with particular terror situations. Corporal Bajendra Singh, a trainer, said, “We train them hard, a two-day training takes place. We train them on different aspects of intervention, different ways and means of intervening into buildings.” The school was originally founded for Indian armed forces and police personnel in 1970.But over the past year, US troops have also trained there to prepare for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Captain S S Jammal, Instructor, Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School, said, “The Indian Army is most experienced in dealing with such situations. That’s why they are coming here for training. In such a scenario experience counts.” It is all about building up new military mindsets. Brigadier B K Ponwar, Commandant, Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School, said, “The soldier has to change his method of operation in an unconventional environment like here in the northeast…He has to be able to do some good reflex shooting. He has to learn what psychological warfare is all about.” In one exercise, for example, soldiers must grapple in the dark for an invisible enemy.The challenge is to devise lamps that throw light into the wilderness.In a changed world, these are the new frontiers – conventional warfare gives way to the guerilla attacks. There is a realisation that this is the bigger enemy. And it requires a special strategy to fight it.Full Story)
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