A young friend requested me to write a few lines for him to enable him to understand the concept of the Scholar Warrior. Instead of once again sitting down and being deliberate I thought it best to write from the heart. A 10 minute effort brought out this little draft for him. I thought I must share it with others although it is far from being perfect; lots can be added to it but for a basic understanding this is sufficient. Here it is :- Scholar Warrior My interest in the term Scholar Warrior came from my interaction at Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS), Hawaii where I was attending the Executive Course in 2000. The profession of arms (soldiering) has always been associated with brawn, physical assets, stamina and staying power; less for brain, thinking, rationale and deep research. Hence the old adage A soldiers brain is in his heels. I always hated this perception about soldiering because I always felt that there is no profession which has diversity of such skills as that of the soldier. Besides the stress and strain of battle has to be overcome and yet the enemy has to be outwitted through sheer brain power. Study of ground to best advantage, selection of best option from a range of options, balancing risk and surety, ensuring logistics in less then ideal conditions, deciding the technology to be employed; all this leaves the soldier/warrior in a mind blogging situation in which if he does not have the ability to apply his mind he will be found wanting. Defense planning also involves forecasting more than any other profession. Financial planning and remaining updated with technology is mandatory. Doesnt all this involve the highest level of awareness and intellectualism. The profession of arms is all about ambiguity. Hundreds of situations demanding hundreds of answer. There is hardly anything called Right and Wrong, Black or White. It is all about the shades of grey through which a soldier or his leader have to wade to come to decisions. These decisions are risk prone and involve life and death thus placing responsibility on shoulders beyond the age and rank. This is also about a debate between Attrition and Maneuver Warfare. Attrition is unthinking, SOP based actions in which lives and resources are unimportant; Maneuver is all about smart warfare, placing yourself at a position of advantage in any situation, be it in mountains, in CI ops or mechanized warfare. So, if the profession is seen from this angle it requires the highest standard of awareness, ability to ferret out intelligence from information,. exploit technology, take clear decisions and convey orders in a perceptible manner. All the above can only be achieved if the soldier is trained to think and not act in a robot like manner, bounden to SOPs and drills. As warfare becomes more and more complex it places greater demands on degree of awareness. At the same time in Irregular Warfare the soldier/commander deals with the civil populace, government and Police. He has to function at a higher level of understanding of the implications of such warfare and be aware of physical and cultural terrain; this is only by deep study and ground recce. The intellectual soldier who is as much at ease with deep research as he is with patrolling with his men; one who can take rigors of conflict along with the fascinating array of situations (each different from the other) is really called a Scholar Warrior. The Scholar Warrior Concept was introduced to motivate officers to perceive their profession as an intellectual one, thus creating the urge to study, increase outreach, research, speak, debate and be happy in ambiguity rather than seek solace in black and white situations which hardly ever present themselves in their profession. It is also all about pride in their profession which is intellectually one of the most exacting professions in the world.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 06:39:07 +0000