Page 373 - Leadership in the Indian Army

Though he had been approved by the selection board, Vaidya was not
favourably inclined and tried to block his promotion. However, Arun Singh,
the Minister of State for Defence, overruled him, reportedly at the behest of

Sundarji, who was slated to succeed Vaidya. When Sundarji took over as
Chief on 1 February 1986, he called Hanut and told him that he wanted him
to command the Strike Corps for Exercise ‘Brass Tacks’, which was to be
the largest and most ambitious series of exercises undertaken by the Indian
Army till then. Sundarji wanted to try out certain new concepts, including
the Air Assault Division and the Reorganised Assault Plains Infantry
Division (RAPID), which were both ideas introduced by him for the first

time.
On 29 April 1986, Hanut took over as GOC 2 Corps. Naturally, he was
delighted at the chance to command the prestigious Strike Corps. Here was
an opportunity to put into practice the concepts of mobile warfare that he
had studied and evolved, but which had remained at the level of theory for
want of an opportunity to put them into practice. Hanut set about his task in

right earnest, to educate and inculcate the troops, and more so the formation
commanders who would have to implement the concepts. He held a series
of talks, followed by map and sand model exercises, followed by training
exercises without troops (TEsWT), and finally full-scale exercises with
troops. By the time Exercise ‘Brass Tacks-4’ began, his corps was keyed to
a pitch of training that is seldom achieved.
It is now well known that during Exercise ‘Brass Tacks’, India and

Pakistan almost went to war. Due to various reasons, the crisis was averted
and the troops withdrawn from the border. By Hanut’s own reckoning, if he
had been allowed to continue, his corps would have executed offensive
operations that would be rated among the classics of mobile warfare. His
officers and men were itching for a fight and a chance to put into practice
all that they had been learning and practising for the last few months. When

the whole thing fizzled out, most of them were bitterly disappointed. If
Hanut had been given the ‘go ahead’, there is little doubt that he would
have changed the map, given his past record of bold and brilliant handling
of armour.
Hanut feels that second only to the rare privilege of commanding his
regiment in battle, the command of 2 Corps provided him the greatest
professional satisfaction. He had the unique opportunity of being able to

personally train and handle the corps in a full-scale exercise with troops,