Calling for the Tri-Shakti spirit

I always believed that a surer way was to persuade the powers-that-be to delink pay from rank, and have a running pay band so that the officer corps had something to look forward to with increasing years of service, even when limited vacancies did not permit many promotions. Fortunately, the Fourth Pay Commission was constituted in mid-’84, and all government services were asked to send their recommendations to the Pay Commission. The Army and Navy made common cause and asked for a running band.

When Baba, as ACM Katre was affectionately known, became Air Chief on September 4, ’84, I explained to him that unless the Air Force made common cause with the other two services, we would all lose out. The big man that he was, he immediately sent for his AOC-in-C’s and explained why it was necessary to withdraw the Air Force memorandum and make common cause for the greater good of all three services.

Most readers may not know that the scales of pay enjoyed by the flying branch of the Air Force were higher than their ground duty colleagues, and of the Army or Navy. The flying branches stood to lose with the running pay band, which would be common to all.

The first lesson of a good inter-service ethos is that the greater good of the many must take precedence over the interests of the few. Happily for the Armed Forces, we got the running pay band. A passed-over Major would get the pay scale of Rs 5700 in the 25th year of service, when the starting pay for a Joint Secretary was Rs 5900. Likewise, a Brigadier on promotion would get Rs 6150 or Rs 6300 depending on his years of commissioned service.

Putting the clock back a bit, to when I was Flag Lieutenant with the then CNS, Vice Admiral Carlill, I would carry the files when CNS went to meet the Defence Secretary. After a couple of such visits, I asked CNS why he didn’t invite the Defence Secretary to his office now and again, when the need arose, as he was senior in the warrant of precedence. I have never forgotten his reply.

‘‘Flags,’’ he said, ‘‘I see my Army and Air Force colleagues going to see the Defence Secretary. I am British. I can sit in my office, but the Navy’s cause will suffer.’’

I realized then that Chiefs go to the Defence Secretary’s office to ensure their service gets its share of the Defence Budget cake. Lesson No. 2: the Chiefs must stand solidly united for the sake of their services, as we were able to do in the mid-’80s.

I had my Vice-Chief deal with the Defence Secretary. I mostly interacted at the political level. My colleagues soon followed suit. In the early ’80s, I have known instances when Chiefs openly squabbled in the Defence Secretary’s office. This was totally avoided, and any differences were discussed frankly, during the second half of the Chiefs of Staff meeting each week, always held in my office, without any staff or outsiders. No minutes were kept, nor was an agenda planned. It was essentially a get-together to iron out differences.

Till 1984, each service had its Commanders/ Senior Officers Conference by itself. I thought it odd that while senior civil servants were invited by individual services, the other two Chiefs were not invited. For the first time in 1985, I invited the Army and Air Chiefs when the PM inaugurated the naval conference. The next year, we had a combined inaugural for all three services by the PM. Even the customary meal in Navy House, with the PM and his lady, included senior officers of all three services with their wives. All this could not have happened without the active cooperation of my Army and Air colleagues.

Large scale exercises involving all three services were conducted each year with a Unified Commander. In 1985, the Navy provided the Commander because the setting was largely over ocean spaces. In the following year, it was the Army, with actual paradrops etc. In 1987, the Air Force provided the Unified Command. The exercise orders were written by the newly-created Defence Planning Staff, which reported to the Chiefs of Staff Committee. We three Chiefs went together everywhere — for briefings, de-briefs and actual observation of the exercises.

The Defence Planning Staff did a great job in improving the inter-service ethos. Led by General B C Nanda, and then Air Marshal P K Dey, they brought about true joint service thinking. No service could be accused of fighting for its turf. The task was assigned to whoever was best suited to handle the job, with real economy of effort and resources. The briefing for Air Force participation in the exercises was done by the Army Deputy in the Defence Planning Staff, for the Army part by a Navy man, and so on. They wore their individual service uniform, but their thinking became truly tri-service.

I dreamt that this ethos would grow and provide the joint services headquarters staff to assist a Chief of Defence Staff, whenever one was appointed. Two decades on, that dream has remained just that — a dream only. Why?

The main reason is our less than adequate higher defence apparatus, which remains headless without a Chief of Defence Staff. The re-organization of the Defence Ministry (Arun Singh Task Force), which was approved by the Group of Ministers and subsequently by the Cabinet, has not been seen to its logical conclusion. A huge integrated staff has been put together, with many Flag-rank appointments at the top. It is like a hockey team without a Captain.

Lieutenant General P S Joshi, the outgoing Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, admitted publicly that the new organisation had been able to do no more than the old Defence Planning Staff of the mid-’80s. In a three-member Chiefs of Staff Committee, if one of them does not share the concept of jointmanship wholeheartedly, you have a no-win situation. In a four-member team, with a CDS being more equal among equals, the lone dissenter can be persuaded, and if need be, overruled. In the mid-’80s, all three gentlemen at the top happened to share the commitment to jointmanship. A two-day cruise, with our spouses in a naval tanker from Port Blair to Indira Point and back in 1985, and a similar one to Lakshwadeep the following year, did much to foster the spirit.

Some time in 1987, our first tri-service sailing expedition, which circumnavigated the globe, returned. In my capacity as president of the Yachting Association of India (YAI), a reception was held for these young people in Kotah House. As is natural, at the end of the evening, the sailors started singing. After regaling the audience with typical ditties, there was a chorus demanding a song from the Chiefs. The three of us complied, singing a popular tune. Everyone seemed delighted, except a young Commander, who had a worried look.

‘‘Sir, what will the Government think if they come to know that he three Chiefs have ben singing together,’’ he said, as we got ready to leave.

I turned around and told him, ‘‘If the Government has any sense, they will be happy that the Chiefs are singing together, not squabbling among themselves.’’

The single most important rationale for a good Tri-Shakti spirit is this bonding. If you cultivate and nurture it, the entire uniformed fraternity come out winners. If you don’t, and waste energy and resources in inter-service turf war (often overt, and generally covert), the only winners are the civil services who have no accountability when the chips are down. It is always the Services who pay the price, calling for the supreme sacrifice from our brave young officers and jawans.

The writer is former Chief of Naval Staff