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Repairing a BMP at Khardung la

The armed forces have to cope with highly uncertain conditions in operations or in war-like situations in which the role of military logisticians becomes extremely important.

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Col DS Cheema (Retd)  

The armed forces have to cope with highly uncertain conditions in operations or in war-like situations in which the role of military logisticians becomes extremely important. History is replete with stories where perfect planning of commanders failed because of the inadequate logistics support.

I was commanding an electronics and mechanical engineers (EME) battalion at Leh when in 1987 Operation Trident was planned to be launched across Turtuk sector to checkmate Pakistan. It is the world’s highest and coldest battlefield.

First time in the history of our engagement with our adversary, we planned to move a regiment of BMPs (Russian-origin infantry fighting vehicles) across Khardung la, a mountain pass at 18,380 ft. On a particular day, I was asked by Colonel “Q” to stay back and meet the GOC after his briefing. When I met the GOC, he emphasised the importance of keeping the axis Leh-Thois (where a brigade was deployed and had a makeshift air strip) clear for the movement of troops, BMPs and other supplies.

Realising the importance of the mission, I gathered two teams each with a Captain, two Havildar Majors and three craftsmen; one was a mobile team and the other was positioned at Khardung La. I had picked up my best officers and men for the task and the teams were equipped with necessary tools and spares. It was at about 2 am when I received a message that a BMP was stuck just 100 metres below the top of the hostile pass and movement of all vehicles had come to a standstill. I was on my way to the location when I was a conveyed a message of the GOC that the road must be cleared in the next two hours. When I reached the spot, I saw my boys struggling to put the vehicle on the road.  The captain in-charge was getting desperate.

Being a man of tender conscience, I began to slip into an irrational and contradictory state of mind. I had to make special effort to pull myself out of self-doubt and despair. It was five in the morning and the road had to be cleared before first light. At this stage I received orders from the GOC that if it was not possible to start the vehicle, it may be pushed downhill to clear the road. I felt miserable as that action would have compromised my and my battalion’s professional competence. 

I got the team together and told them about the order I had received and how the honour, dignity and self-respect of all of us and the izzat of the battalion was at stake. After the pep talk, I withdrew myself from the scene but felt that only God’s intervention could help us and my feet pushed me towards the famous temple, a few metres away, where every man passing through the pass paid obeisance. I was on my way back from the temple still staring at uncertainty when I heard the loud roar of the BMP engine coming alive. My faith in the adage “fiction is stranger than truth” was further reinforced. It is a different matter that after mobilisation, the politicians developed cold feet and Operation Trident fizzled out. 

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