Indian Army Begins Training Regular Troops to Counter Terrorism

[Rage]

Indian Army Begins Training Regular Troops to Counter Terrorism

Dated 29/6/2009


Preparing to deal with Mumbai attacks-like terror sieges, the Indian Army has started training its units deployed at various places considered as potential terrorist targets, according to DD India.

"We must have troops who are well trained and equipped to carry out hostage rescue operations in situations such as the Mumbai crisis," Army sources told the news agency. The Army has assigned its Special Force (SF) units based across the country to train the personnel from regular infantry units for the purpose.

"We realised that our units deployed in the peace locations should also be trained in urban warfare which is different from what we face in Jammu and Kashmir and the north-eastern states". "Our SF troops have had a long history of dealing with extreme situations in the insurgency-affected areas of J and K and the north-east. Therefore, they have been assigned to train and prepare troops from regular infantry units for these tasks," they said.

Most of the personnel undergoing training with the SF units are deployed in cities having sizable population and attract both foreign and domestic tourists in large numbers. "Army units based in cities like Goa, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Agra, Goa, Chandigarh, Gandhinagar, Surat, Vadodara, Jamnagar and various other places spread across the country are being trained to deal with hostage rescue operations as terrorists are most likely expected to strike at such places," the sources said.

These infantry units will also be equipped with modern electronic gadgets and weapons, mostly used by the SF and quick reaction teams to tackle terrorists. These weapons are normally not available to them. New courses have been designed by the SF units to train the infantry troops.

"Officers and men from the chosen units have started going to the SF units, which have designed special courses for them. It will help these troops increase their mental and physical endurance and skills to tackle such crises," the sources said.

At the moment, Army has six SF units which are based in locations such as Udhampur and Jodhpur. "Officers and men from the infantry units will go back to their battalions and teach their own men the skills learned from SF units," they said.

The decision to set up these specialised teams within the infantry units was taken after an assessment of the lessons learned during the 26/11 operations.


http://www.india-defence.com/reports-4472

 

[p2prada]

A very important decision. Hope it is implemented very well.

 

[Energon]

A multi tiered anti terrorism force structure (special units from local police departments- state specific anti terrorism squads- regular soldiers stationed at nearby bases with special training etc.) is a good idea. But as p2prada pointed out, we'll have to wait and see how this is implemented.

What I haven't yet seen however is a plan to ramp up the supportive systems that come into play, and ones that failed miserably the last time around. These would include fire departments, traffic control, media management, information management, disaster relief, emergency medical assistance etc. Even in cities like Mumbai these systems (generally associated with infrastructure in developed nations) are either dilapidated or non existent.

There has to be development on this front as well in addition to imparting skills to combat forces. If anything, the utilitarian potential of the latter is far greater in the long run considering all of these services are needed and should be provided to the populace even when there aren't terrorism related crises.

 

[ZOOM]

A multi tiered anti terrorism force structure (special units from local police departments- state specific anti terrorism squads- regular soldiers stationed at nearby bases with special training etc.) is a good idea. But as p2prada pointed out, we'll have to wait and see how this is implemented.

What I haven't yet seen however is a plan to ramp up the supportive systems that come into play, and ones that failed miserably the last time around. These would include fire departments, traffic control, media management, information management, disaster relief, emergency medical assistance etc. Even in cities like Mumbai these systems (generally associated with infrastructure in developed nations) are either dilapidated or non existent.

There has to be development on this front as well in addition to imparting skills to combat forces. If anything, the utilitarian potential of the latter is far greater in the long run considering all of these services are needed and should be provided to the populace even when there aren't terrorism related crises.

Energon as usual, you have a bang on target. Your concern about mismanagment in various civilian avenues as stated above has played an important part in overall vulnerability of Indian citizens to Terror outfits. Latest example of such gross mismanagement exhibited by Mumbai's Police yesterday itself, when they decided to send upto Four to Nine policeman into high sea sailed on Fishing boat hired from Local fisherman. All these Policemans were unarmed and didn't even had any sort of communication gadget. In the end, they got stuck into Fishing net nearby newely opened Bandra Worli Sea Link, and Coast Guard required to scramble their choopers to airlift all the stuck Cops in high sea. So this particuler incidence showcase gross mismangement and shows that no lessons have been leared so far even after 6 months of deadly terror attack. Our Security System require first need rescue effort, when it happned then only they can effectively tackle the securities of its citizens.