While many in the Indian armed forces are calling a price cap on cars sold at military canteens “ill treatment” and some others are questioning the perks they enjoy, they need to look at a recent incident in the UK where a naval officer ‘misused’ his official car and was ‘removed from command’. The two aren’t comparable, but they call into question the expectations people have of military men and women.
Error in judgement or ethics
Two weeks ago, Commodore Nick Cooke-Priest, the Captain of Royal Navy warship HMS Queen Elizabeth, was removed from command for an ‘error of judgement’ in ‘misusing’ his official car.
The military veterans, media and the public in the UK were divided on the subject. Some felt that the ‘misdemeanour’ hardly warranted the sacking of a highly regarded Captain who commanded a £3-billion aircraft carrier, which can carry up to 36 fighter jets with a maximum crew strength of 1600 and is the most modern ship in the Royal Navy fleet.
Some others felt that military ethics are absolute and there can be no compromise on that, irrespective of rank, appointment and professional calibre.
Also read: Indian armed forces upset as Modi govt imposes curbs on car sales at military canteens
My own tweet on the subject, highlighting the falling ethical standards in our armed forces, led to a lively debate on Twitter. It was a pleasant surprise that the Twitterati and the veterans were unanimous in their views on upholding highest ethical standards in armed forces irrespective of the compromised standards in other government institutions and the society.
Military leadership & best practices
In the recorded military history of five millennia, the fundamentals of military leadership – the value system, the leadership traits, the principles, and the code of conduct – have remained unchanged. Unchanged, because the military has dynamically selected the best practices from the society, used them to develop its leaders, and applied them absolutely through enforceable rules, regulations and military law to bridge the gap between military ideals and omnipresent human failings.
Ethics – the understanding of moral right or wrong – guides military leaders in taking the right decisions. The military is the state’s instrument of last resort and can use ‘force’ on its behalf. If it does not strictly adhere to the moral conduct, the consequences will be horrendous, particularly when military is employed for internal security.
Violation of military ethics
Our officer corps have a stellar reputation in peace and war. In battle, they have led from the front. However, a lot of character shortcomings have been reported particularly among senior officers, Colonels or equivalent and above.
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Over the years, there have been numerous reports on violation of military ethics by officers. We have had ‘Booze Brigadier’ and ‘Ketchup Colonel’ cases along with numerous instances of alleged fake encounters.
A number of senior officers have faced court-martial, notable among them was a director general of the Army Service Corps, a Lt Gen, who was awarded three years rigorous imprisonment (later reduced to dismissal by the Armed Forces Tribunal) for procuring inferior dal. ‘Tent scandal’, ‘egg scam’ and ‘golf cart scam’ are some of the ridiculous names for cases of petty corruption. Abuse of privileges by senior officers in the form of misuse of vehicles, use of soldiers as domestic help and fudging electricity bills is rampant.
The highest custodians of military morals, the service chiefs, apart from a host of other senior officers, are no exception. A General-rank officer has been found guilty of molesting a subordinate woman officer. Two Army chiefs and one Navy chief and several other generals, including Army commanders, were allegedly allotted flats in the now-notorious Adarsh Housing Society in violation of the rules. If that is not enough, service chiefs in connivance with the Ministry of Defence are known to have got an authorisation to keep personal staff post-retirement. With what face can a chief act as the moral custodian of his service when he has got a dubious perk ‘authorised’?
The cascading effect
It is a non-valid excuse that the declining standards of probity in public life have an effect on the military. The military is expected to avoid this pitfall through a structured leadership development programme, which is backed by rules, regulation and enforcement of the law.
The reasons for the current decline in ethical standards are a flawed leadership development programme and a compromised leadership failing to enforce the rules.
Also read: Don’t politicise Indian armed forces. Just look at what it did to our police
Mutual trust between the leader and those being led is the most important factor in a battle. This trust is built over a period of time during training. In a rules and regulations-bound organisation with strict enforcement laws, the subordinates are constantly watching their leaders. They are very keen to see whether the leader adheres to the strict rules and regulations as well as the privations that s/he enforces on them. This why the ‘role model’ who ‘leads by example’ never fails in the military. In an evolving society, probity of the leader is always measured. The military is no exception. In the military, ‘integrity’ also stands for an ‘integrated personality’ with no duplicity.
Duplicitous conduct of the officer corps, particularly with respect to ‘integrity’, has a cascading effect on the psyche of the subordinates, leading to lack of faith and trust – a most dangerous situation in a battle. This is why the ‘good’ Captain of HMS Queen Elizabeth had to be ‘removed from command’. It is high time that the Indian military puts its house in order with respect to falling standards in morals and ethics.
Lt Gen H S Panag PVSM, AVSM (R) served in the Indian Army for 40 years. He was GOC in C Northern Command and Central Command. Post retirement, he was Member of Armed Forces Tribunal. Views are personal.
With corrupt and morally decriept bosses in politicians and civil servants, how can any expect the armed forces to uphold ethica and morality?
Interesting read – more of comments than the original story that lambasted the parent stock ! Moral of the story :
From the peons to the top most beraucrats and political Netas practise these ennobling features that you accuse us of, then why single us out ?
It is alright, to close one’s eye, let us keep enjoying the same privileges that you also did, lest we open up those large cans containing worms that you left behind.
We must have our own dhobi ghat to wash our linen and that should be out of bounds for civilians.
Of morality and ethics – one should confine it within specified class and our conscience should not be muddied by the domestic use of combatant troops. Poor soldier , when he meets his mom and dad back at the village can always claim that he is fighting the enemy at the border in the defence of motherland while your wife makes him wash her pet dog !
O.K. we will not call him Ordly., we will make him Sahayak and of course on the T.V.panel make him our “Buddy”, doesn’t it look decent ?
Even a Rahul has become aware of the disparity in the food served in officer’s mess and Soldiers ‘, “Oh ! the nutritional value is same though choice of dishes may vary” is good advocacy. We can use terminology to explain.
Getting soldiers attached to nearby units where a batch mate is commanding for assisting a separated family is an age old trick that should remain sealed !
Lastly, those that have benefited from this corrupt system should not possess the gumption to expose us to deprive of the same.
One repeated exception that a retired General must keep all his orifices closed because, while in service he did not do any better , of course is partially an accepted truth.
Jai Hind, Jai Bharath Mata.
I think it’s the right time now that all the officers should be sent on compulsory retirement.. Since army can be run without them.. Now generals who say officers have lost their morality.. and people who are also raising voices along with them and they have no clue about the army life and it’s functionality.. like I don’t have any Idea about this organization. I just know all people are not same like our fingers.. So blaming all officers is not right.. Like soldiers of Indian Army giving supreme sacrifice for the nation every second day brave officers are also being martyred.. As far as I think corruption in Army is negligible if you compare it from office of ministries to the municipality.. This my humble request to all the general sahebs and my other country men do not doubt on the morality and sincerity of army.. Don’t forget this is the same army who carried out surgical strikes and made whole Nation proud.. It is better that we should not get swayed by a few corrupt individuals.. I am proud of My Indian Army.. and I will be a proud father if my Son joins Indian Army..
Common man, you need to stop putting forward your crap views time and again. No wonder nobody likes you in the army itself and also I can understand why your first wife decided to run away with another officer.
Boy..Are you a serious case of VERBAL DIARRHOEA or what..! Am sure you are aware..that ..Of all the nincompoops to ever don A Uniform .. our name is right up in the “Hall Of Fame”. Fortunately..You can Do write all made up stories you want..but the responsibility of upholding the ethos of Army.. is not resting on your Opportunist shoulders. Let me break your bubble.. Even if you wrote a million articles selling out the organisation which has given you everything ..YOU DEAR DELUSIONAL MAN..WILL NEVER BE MADE A GOVERNOR/ AMBASSADOR..OR EVEN A VC ..OK? So now please give it a rest.. relax mooch off the regiment you already are..and just chill..Army surely.. doesn’t need ” YOU” ..Take Care..
Absolutely right General Panag. This reminds me that Sardar Patel sanctioned, post facto, the loot and rape of Hyderabad by such high ranking officers as Gen. Choudhury.
Good it’s time to change
Somebody very close to me was on a long trip in the Ladakh region. He saw army tankers taking a diversion to sell off some of the diesel. It seemed par for the course.
The army in particular needs to do a lot of cost cutting in peace station cantonments. For example sending out a three tonner to distribute milk packets in officers’ houses is absurd. A ‘civilian” would have used a three wheeler for the same task!
Who are u to comment on the practices in Army…?
Have u stayed in the freezing cold nights on a post in Kashmir in December ?
Have u burnt itself in the sweltering heatvof Rajasthan in May?
Have u been drenched in rain while carrying out a search operation in Assam for 3 nights continuously?
Have u run a 40 km distance with battle loads ?
If not… Then u don’t have the moral right to comment on the functioning of the armed forces. It’s not about being an officer or a jawan.. an army man is an army man.
He/she does work which is exclusive…. And he/ she should be rewarded in a manner which is exclusive
And btw… That person very close to u.. did he have magical powers that just by seeing vehicles plying in the road.. he could make out where were they going ?
For God sake.. Stop shaming your own army.
This is an organisation that works selflessly for ungrateful and unintellectual people like you…. Unfortunately
Good write-up General Panag. No solutions suggested however. Years ago I wrote to Marshal’s Manekshaw and Arjan Singh arguing that the duty-free quota of liquor to the Armed Services was ridiculous. Marshal Arjan Singh wrote back suggesting that it was a harmless perk while Marshal Manekshaw forwarded my suggestion to the Canteen Stores Dept. One needs to take action . Rank, whether serving or retired is meaningful only when used for a good purpose
The author has compiled all instances over the last over 30 yrs and painted a picture of gloom and doom. There are bad people, ldrs and led, and there are good ppl. And good ppl enormously outnumber bad ones on any day and that is how the systems run effectively. And when it comes to leader, it is not just ‘daal’ which counts, the quality of ldrship is very very important. One wonders how all saintly wisdom dawns upon some ppl only after they cease to enjoy the perks and privileges of power and authority. Perhaps the author could enlighten readers as to why he was removed from Command of operationally sensitive northern army midway.
Sir, with due regards, I am convinced that it is the seniors in our Army who have failed to lead from the front. The prospect of next rank has resulted in lowering of moral values. While I have no doubts the juniors in the hierarchy have managed to salvage the image through their blood.
Holding the military to higher standards of ethics and morality would be the right thing to do. But ponder if you must, the depravity of the ‘boss’ , the political executive being held to very low standards of ethics and those subordinate being asked to behave like ‘maryada purushottams’. When was the last time the Armed Forces flinched or took years to bring erring soldiers to justice. When was the last time a bureaucrat was chargesheeted for misdemeanor or corruption. The Armed Forces are doing fine. Do not blow up isolated cases which are in any case proceeded against, as the new normal. The massive majority of the Armed Forces still take pride in their Country, their Regiment and their comrades. Jai Hind.
Politicization is one of the major threats to the army. It is an insidious disease that has made a lot of progress in recent years. But having said that, why do you want to quote the English case to denounce bad behavior within the army? What do we teach in schools? This is perhaps the place to begin to say that serving the public is not to serve itself and serve his loved ones!