About the Book

Bringing about change in any setup, especially major shifts, is a challenge. This challenge is accentuated further in a strictly hierarchical organisation like the army, presenting an unenviable contradiction to both senior military practitioner and the governing elite, wherein, change is inevitable, yet, it is most likely to be resisted.

Military change is a relatively nascent area of study, especially in the Indian scenario. This book attempts to analyse this subject through an examination of existing literature, thereby co-relating some of its primary conclusion in the context of the Indian Army. This is done in relation to both conventional and sub-conventional threats and challenges, with a number of case studies as illustrative examples.

The book concludes that given the wide spectrum of threats faced by the Indian Army, as also most major armies across the world, attempts at understanding military change only through the prism of conventional wars could be misleading. It suggests that change need not only be revolutionary to enhance effectiveness. It could be both revolutionary and evolutionary, top-down and bottom-up. While effective change is primarily major in conventional conditions, it could well be tactical and yet make a substantial impact in sub-conventional scenarios. The book reinforces the importance of operational changes in the sub-conventional domain, even as an assessment of strategic and organisational changes is undertaken. It attempts to answer important questions related to the drivers, shapers, facilitating conditions and limitations related to effective change. It also relates military change with organisational change in the corporate world to provide an interesting comparative analysis. Finally, the book reinforces its conclusions through a survey of officers from the Indian Army, to highlight existing limitations that need to be corrected in order to better innovate and adapt in pursuit of effective military change.

About the Author

Colonel Vivek Chadha (Retd) served in the army for over 22 years before joining IDSA in 2011, as a Research Fellow, His areas of research include defence studies, counter insurgency and terrorism finance. His published books include, Lifeblood of Terrorism: Countering Terrorism Finance, Low Intensity conflicts in India: An Analysis and Indo-US Relations: Divergence to Convergence. He has also edited, Armed Forces Special Powers Act: the Debate. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Defence Studies

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

List of Tables and Charts

Introduction

1. Existing Theoretical Frameworks
   What is Military Change?
   Why Do Militaries Change?

PART I
CONVENTIONAL THREATS

Military Change in the Indian Army: Case of External Threats

2. An Assessment of Organisational Change
   Changes Post 1962 Sino-Indian War
   Reforms Post K.V. Krishna Rao Report
3. Strategic Military Change
   Changes after the 1962 Sino-Indian War
   Changes Post 1975 Krishna Rao Recommendations
   Cold Start or Limited Pre-emptive Offensive
4. Assessment of Military Change in a Conventional Environment
   Drivers of Military Change Pathways of Military Change
   Desirables for Successful Change
   Long-term Strategic Assessment
   Support from Political Establishment
   Visionary and Committed Military Leadership
   Strong Institutional Structures
   Follow-up Action

PART II
MILITARY CHANGE IN COUNTERINSURGENCY

Adaptation to Change

5. Change in Military Strategy
   Frontier Warfare
   CI Operations in the Mid-fifties and Early Sixties
   CI Operations from Mid-sixties till the Seventies
   Iron Fist and Velvet Glove Strategy
   Major Increase in Force Levels
   Change in Legal Provisions
   LoC Obstacle System
   Use of Local Militia
   Use of Offensive Air Support
   Change in Goals
6. Organisational Change
   Creation of Ad Hoc Rifle Company
   Rashtriya Rifle Battalions
   Army Commander Special Financial Powers
   Commando Platoon
7. Change in Conduct of Operations
   Changes in Conduct of Operations
   Training
   Readjustment of Battalions
   Strengthening and Buffering Vehicles
   Use of Captured Equipment
   Modification of SLR
   Technology-driven Changes
   Night-vision and Surveillance Devices
   Creation and Deployment of Ashi Pillai
8. Army’s Ability to Cope with Change
   Type of Change
   Approach to Change and Its Manifestation
   Drivers of Change
   Impact of Military Change
   Source of Influence
   Quality of Change
   Speed of Implementation
   Constraints of Military Change
   Applicability of Military Change to Specific Regions
   Conclusion

PART III
ANALYSING MILITARY CHANGE

9. Contextualising Military Change
   Relating Lessons from the Corporate World
   Does Existing Theory Explain Military Change?
   Drivers of Military Change
   Who Drives Military Change?
   Pathways to Military Change
   Direction of Military Change
   Scale of Change
   Level of Change
   Type of Change
10. Concluding Observations

    Annexures
    1. Illustration of Military Change in Counterinsurgency (CI) Operations
    2. Region-wise Assessment of Military Change

Index

View discussion on the book

Order Hard Copy

Please email us at adps.idsa [at] nic.in or call +91-11-2671 7983 (Ext. 7303)