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How V K Singh transformed the army

Amidst his date of birth fracas, and other attendant scams that surfaced towards the end of the tenure of the army chief, General Vijay Kumar Singh, most have forgotten that he had come to the helm of the force with a clear agenda.

This was the result of a decision taken by the top brass of the army during the tenure of the previous chief, retired Gen Deepak Kapoor, that would result in a committee being formed on the subject of 'transformation.' 'Military transformation' is a concept that has emerged out of the ‘Revolution in Military Affairs’ which is the marriage of cutting-edge technology with strategy and tactics of the armed forces.

Gen Singh, then the Eastern army commander, had headed the committee, which explored the possibility of 'transformation' of the Indian army. The committee had set-up a number of sub groups that dealt with various aspects of the army and had made their final recommendations around the time Gen Singh took charge of the 1.3-million strong army.

Now is the time to take stock of the 'transformation' exercise that Singh led in the last two years or so. A senior army source listed the areas in which the exercise was undertaken. ‘Theaterisation’ of the combat support units was one. A restructuring of the army head quarters was second. Third, an emphasis was put on the ‘quantification’ of training exercises. Fourth, and very importantly, a restructuring of the medical units was also undergone. Fourth, even the Corps of the Military Police was a part of the ‘transformation.’ Fifth, the army's financial units were also a part of the process. Sixth, there was to be a change in the media interaction. Most importantly, ‘transformation’ touched upon its order of battle at the corps level.

At the corps level, restructuring has taken place to create ‘battle groups,’ which have specific task orientation. The underlying idea of the ‘transformation’ was to reduce accretion of physical numbers and reduce revenue expenditure in favour of capital account increases.

The theaterisation of the combat support units was to reduce duplication and ‘economisation’ that has test bedded in exercises. The restructuring of the Army head quarters has led to bundling of sections and functions.

The medical units have been oriented towards quicker intervention, especially in what is called the 'golden hour' i.e. an hour-long window from the moment the victim becomes a casualty. The military police has been re-trained in special investigation, and forensics.
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