Indian Army – Page 5

Chief of Defence Staff must be Appointed Immediately

All major democracies have opted for the CDS and India cannot ignore it any further. In the prevailing battlefield milieu of joint operations, combined operations and even coalition operations, modern armed forces cannot be successful without a well-developed and deeply ingrained culture of jointmanship.

Gurmeet Kanwal
December 12, 2013
IDSA Comments

Institutional Challenges Confronting the Indian Armed Forces: The Moral and Ethical Dimension

The phenomenon of the apparent lowering of both personal and institutional moral and ethical standards in the armed forces is not limited to India. What is missing is an open debate on the complexities that drive the modern day profession of arms and the need for a mutually supporting relationship between the armed forces and the institutions of a democracy, especially at a time when newer forms of security threats are emerging.

Ethics at the Grassroots: A Values-based Approach

This article addresses the declining standards of morality in the armed forces and suggests measures to address it by undertaking appropriate interventions at the grassroots, unit or battalion. It traces the importance of ethics in the military, particularly in the context of the post-modern state, which grants exclusive authority to the armed forces for the use of violence. Further, it examines the state of ethics today and the challenges in codification to arrive at the basic ethical norms that need to be fostered in the military.

Falling Standard of Values in the Army: Dilution of Norms is the Root Cause

As human beings are a product of their environment and society, their interpretation of morals, ethics and value system differ. In a traditional culture like ours, attitudes are moulded by long-established practices, rituals and conventions. Group cohesion is a battle winning factor for a military. The Indian Army recruits officers and men from all parts of the country with diverse value systems and attitudes. It is well nigh impossible to weave them into a cohesive group without bringing them on to a common grid of conduct.

Building Army’s Human Resource for Sub-Conventional Warfare by K.C. Dixit

The Indian Army today faces a very complex challenge. It is increasingly becoming clear that the kind of wars that were fought a few decades ago are not going to be fought in the future. The nature of warfare is changing from conventional warfare to one that is ‘sub-conventional’. Rivalries among nations continue to exist but the spheres of these rivalries now focus on economic capabilities and strengths.

Roots of Moral Decline in the Armed Forces: Time to Reclaim our Izzat

The precipitate decline in moral and ethical values, as well as the steep fall in standards of private and public conduct, in recent years, has been accompanied by a concurrent erosion of values amongst India’s military personnel. Consequently, the armed forces, which were once considered exemplars of ethical conduct, discipline and decency, are rapidly slipping in the estimation of their countrymen.

‘Strength One’ on the Moral Highway

The erosion in moral values in the armed forces over the past few decades has left India’s political and military leadership bewildered and befuddled. No amount of preventive or curative measures appear to be succeeding in arresting this fall, as day after day dawns with news of fresh instances of impropriety and indecorum. This article attempts to examine the issues of morals and ethics as relevant to the profession of soldiering across the time continuum. It dwells further on the probable causes of the erosion of moral values and ethics in the Army.

Ethics and Morals in the Armed Forces: A Framework for Positive Action

Value systems form the spine of modern society, religion and every individual’s conscience with moral codes defining ‘appropriate’ and ‘expected’ activity. Ethics refer to an individual’s actions that are consistent with such value systems. While the former constitutes a basic human marker of right behaviour and conduct, the latter are a set of guidelines that define acceptable behaviour and practices for a certain group of individuals or society.

Needed: A Better Appraisal System for Better Leaders

There has been a palpable decline in the standards of morals, ethics and values as observed by officers in the armed forces and the bond between officers and men has weakened. This could be because officers with the requisite qualities are not adequately groomed to rise to the level of battalion commanders. The present appraisal system is largely to blame, it being based on a single Annual Confidential Report. A further drawback is that only superior officers report on a ratee. Inputs for appraisal need to be drawn from multiple sources geared towards a ‘360 degree evaluation’.

Ethics and Military Leadership

‘Ethics’ derived from the Greek word ‘Ethicos’, means character or manners and guide actions thereby becoming a ‘normative discipline’. Military Ethics applies to a specialized realm and has developed principles appropriate to it over time to help guide future operations. The armed forces must be always ethically led to uphold the defence of the nation and its national interests. Ethical leadership embodying the ideals of the profession of arms entails creating ethical command climates that set the conditions for positive outcomes and ethical behaviour.