I've had occasion to know several outstanding NCOs during my 3 decade long service in the Army. It is my candid view that NCOs are the backbone of subunits. A soldier has to perform well, pass up-gradation tests and gain some experience, for his selection as an NCO. Thus selected on merit and seniority and at the same time very young as they are, their leadership is crucial to the strength, resilience and performance of an organized body of troops. I began my career in the Army as the Officer Commanding of a Line Section of 1 Corps Signal Regiment in 1971. This Section had eight NCOs; one havildar, two naiks and five lance naiks. Hav Mohinder Singh was the Section NCO. When I joined duty, he was away on leave, but I came to know that he had made all arrangements for my reception and initial settling down. I also came to know that he was blamed in a court of inquiry and was to face disciplinary action on return from leave. What I found intriguing was that he was very popular with the men in the Section despite the pending disciplinary case. The Regiment got orders to move for operations and those on leave were recalled. Mohinder arrived and got into action. I found him pleasant, confident, resourceful and competent. We got ready for the move as part of the advance party. No one bothered about the disciplinary action in the heat of the operational move. After we reached Pathankot, our Section was given the task of laying a long field cable (carrier quad) route astride Pathankot- Jammu Highway and also carrying out heavy maintenance of a P&T permanent line (PL) route between Pathankot and Samba. It meant staying away from the unit for the Section. Mohinder showed his organizational skills, innovative ability and stamina for sustained hard work during this period. An effective leader who could inspire the men and get the best results according to a meticulous plan! He told me frankly, his requirements- I should tell him the tasks to be performed and provide the resources. He further clarified that he would ask for a resource only if it was to be procured. He also asked if I could manage to get extra rations and a few bottles of rum! He added that the 2IC and QM were aware of this requirement. One more thing he wanted was the password before last light. And that's all. He said that once a task was given I didn't have to bother, take it as done! He also found ways to engage me. Learn to drive, see places and visit our detachments! He got my official accommodation, office cum residence in a set of 3 tents, 180, 112 and 40 pounder. Remarkable in neatness and improvisation, with all field comforts, these tents were furnished by Army issued items such as cable drums, duck boards, coir mats, GI wire, table telegraphs and camp chairs. He got a neat wall around the tents with locally available sarkanda. While this set up was created as my official accommodation near Madhopur Railway Station he had another surprise for me; he liaised with the Railway Station Master to get a room for me and got it furnished with several amenities including a civil telephone. This was to be my private accommodation! What surprised me most was the composition of our detachments. We had a mix of men from different parts of the country. Mohinder cleverly formed five detachments with class composition, one each of Sikh, Jat, Bihari, Maharastrian and South Indian boys with a naik or lance naik as the detachment commander. He deployed them in five different locations close to the PL route. He distributed tasks judiciously and took care of administration. These detachments were highly motivated and cohesive and very proud of their professional skills. There was a degree of competition among them to excel in everything they did. Each detachment would try to impress me by their professional output as well as the food they prepared. It was a custom for me to have at least one meal with any one of my detachments every day and it always turned out to be a pleasant experience. I enjoyed the informal interaction with the men. We became a close knit family. The men had very tough tasks to carry out, but they enjoyed as well. The local people of Punjab were very supportive and helpful and they came forward to welcome us. The patriotic spirit and love of the local people impacted on the morale of troops. I had to have milk, lassi and kinu juice every now and then when I moved around. Within a few days I learned how to drive. I had a jeep to myself, but I learned to drive the bigger vehicles as well. Mohinder was a good driver. Although we had drivers, all my NCOs had learned driving. In fact, they were experts! The linemen were versatile who could do unimaginable feats and in a short span of time I got to know their capabilities and potential. My appreciation for Mohinder grew day by day. Not a very disciplined peacetime soldier, he was unorthodox, but he turned out to be the most dependable in War! In my later life in the Army I've always looked for such talents. I did come across similar characters, but long periods of peacetime service did not afford the right opportunities for many of them.
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