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The Burden of Sustainable Command

- Vitthal Joshi, Asstt. Comdt., 12 Bn SSB Kishanganj

“He shall none, but hear the opinions of all. A wise man shall make
use of even a child’s sensible utterance”.
- Kautilya (about a wise decision-maker)

simple manifestation of command on the field is tenets of personality is knowledge. Knowledge can
a lawful oral command, which automatically gets be divided under a number of sub-heads-procedural,
a
A statutory backing through various provisions precedential, strategic & tactical, oratorical, linguistic.
contained in the SSB Act, 2007. If a Commander, through Procedural knowledge comprises of knowledge not only
precedence set by his previous word and deed, succeeds in about the departmental procedures, but also about the
establishing an aura of legitimacy around himself, then to latest developments in other departments and the good
those commanded, his subsequent command implicitly procedural practices being followed therein. Precedential
carries an air of a subpoena. However, establishment knowledge, something which even courts of law rely
of such an aura of legitimacy, which in-turn relies upon upon, is based upon respect for the acumen/ experience
a strong fiduciary base, is dependent upon a multitude of previous commanders- it can, atleast, be viewed
of parameters, which stand as the herculean “pillars” as a useful tool for orienteering towards a particular
supporting such legitimacy. Sustainability of Command thought-process. Strategic & Tactical knowledge exhibits
is, thus, something which stems out of such an aura of purely professional skills in a field job, which helps in
legitimacy. Let us now examine some, inter alia, of the the establishment of a sense of belief among those being
various “pillars”, which can help in the establishment of commanded that they can rely upon the decisions, which
such a legitimacy. are base on logic or rationality, of their commander.
Oratorical and Linguistic knowledge is a logical derivative
Knowledge (K)
of the fact that a commander who can effectively express
The French philosopher Michel Foucault had, himself can expect to be effectively followed.
in his political thought, suggested a direct relationship
between knowledge and power. In some cases, knowledge A commander whose commands appeal to the
serves power. logic and reason of those being commanded, rather than
appearing whimsical, is bound to have a legitimacy of
command.

Esteem (E)
A thing to be noted these days is that the intake,
in terms of recruitment, of the constabulary in the Central
Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) is many-a-time comprised
of graduates and post-graduates, possibly because of the
lack of career avenues commensurate with the number
of degrees being provided by educational institutions.
In such a scenario, a commander may establish the
esteem of his persona by repeated exhibitions to those
In the armed forces’ command structure, a being commanded that a commander’s appointment/
thing to be amply clear about is that given the nature nomination has been by virtue of superiority of acumen or
of a “one-man-show” at various command levels, the experience or a judicious mix of both. Once this esteem is
personality of the commander plays a major role in established, legitimacy automatically arises as a corollary.
deciding the effectiveness of this commnd. One of the

56 57 Anniversary Issue - 2020
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