INDIAN NAVY MACROS

There are special forces and then there are the Indian Navy’s Marine Commandos or MARCOS. The Indian Navy’s elite special force, that specializes in everything from counter terrorism to under water operations and sabotage to anti-piracy ops. Here’s what makes them the best in the world. .MARCOS were raised as the Indian Marine Special Forces (IMSF) in 1985.Two years later, they were renamed the Marine Commando Force (MCF). Their motto is – The Few The Fearless. Becoming a MARCO or a Marine Commando is no cakewalk. Trainees have to undergo one of the world’s toughest courses that can last 





Selection and  Training

between two-and-a-half to three years, depending on the specialization. Getting selected to be trained as

a MARCO itself is difficult. The pre-training procedure,which includes a three-day physical fitness and aptitude test, sees almost 80% applicants being screened out. And it gets worse. A five-week-long ‘hell’s week’ follows this, which includes sleep deprivation and intense physical training. Those that make it through, or don’t quit on their own, actually proceed to the actual training.Those that clear the selection then start undergoing the rilling course which includes basic training at INS Abhimanyu in Mumbai.The trainees then train in para jumps at the Paratrooper Training School in Agra and a diving course at Navy’s Diving School in Kochi .After this basic training,they join – on probation – their respective groups for advance training.

This includes training for counter insurgency, anti-hijacking, anti-piracy,clandestine operations, surveillance and reconnaissance, amphibious operations, unconventional warfare, and hostage rescue, among others.All MARCOS are static line para jump qualified and some are qualified for freefall (HALO/HAHO) para jumps High Altitude Low Opening and High Altitude High Opening. In fact, MARCOS are the handful of the special forces from around the world that are capable of being para dropped into the sea with the full combat load. MARCOS are also trained in High Altitude Commando Course at the Parvat Ghatak School in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, at the Desert Warfare School in Rajasthan, High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS) in Sonmarg and Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School (CIJWS) in Mizoram.Their training makes MARCOS tough nuts to crack. An Indian MARCO on an exchange program in the US topped the US Navy SEAL course with ease.After completion of training, a MARCO serves with the elite outfit for 3 to 5 years. The MARCOS are equipped with some of the best weapons in the world. The units are equipped with the Israeli Tavor TAR-21 assault rifle to which a 40 mm grenade launcher can be attached. The TAR-21 is weather sealed, so a MARCO can emerge out of the sea, weapon drawn and ready to shoot. A scary sight for the bad guys The MARCOS operations are the stuff of legends. Op Pawan in Sri Lanka, an operation to blow up the Jaffna jetty, saw MARCOS swim 12 kms to their target with their combat load in tow. They then slipped in without being detected and blew up the harbour with explosives. They were immediately fired upon by the LTTE. The commandos returned fire and managed to swim back to the ship without any casualties. In 1988, the MARCOS, as a part of Op Cactus, thwarted an attempted coup in Maldives. They captured the boat with 46 mercenaries and their hostages that had escaped after the failed coup attempt.During the Kargil War, the MARCOS were tasked to undertake covert operations behind enemy lines.During the Mumbai attacks in 2008, they stormed the Oberoi Trident and Taj hotels where the terrorists were killed. Even the terrorists in Kashmir are scared of the MARCOS and refer to them as ‘Dadiwala Fauj’, thanks to the beards they wear as disguise.

Weapons  

                       

                                                     imi negev

 
                                            

                                                                         ASG 17

                                 
                             

                                                                          GP 25

Operation Woodrose
 

Operation Woodrose was a military operation carried out by the Indira Gandhi-led Indian government in the months after Operation Blue Star to "prevent the outbreak of widespread public protest" in the state of Punjab.The government arrested all prominent members of the largest Sikh political party, the Akali Dal, and banned the All India Sikh Students Federation, a large students' union.In addition, the Indian Army conducted operations in the countryside during which thousands of Sikhs, overwhelmingly young men, were detained for interrogation and subsequently tortured. After the operation, the central government was criticized for using "draconian legislation"to repress a minority community.The operation consisted of the rounding up of thousands of Sikh youth, including several presumably innocent civilians, aimed at eradicating the presence of Sikh youth in the state. According to estimates published by Inderjit Singh Jaijee, approximately 1 million individuals were reported as missing or killed as a result of Army operations during this period.According to Dr.Sangat Singh, Joint Intelligence Committee, about 100000 youth had been taken into custody within first four to six weeks of the operation and he adds that many of them were not heard of again.He further adds about 20000 youth crossing over to Pakistan.To allow for the legality of the operation, the states of Punjab and Chandigarh had been declared by the Indian government as 'disturbed areas' by the enactment of the Punjab Chandigarh Disturbed Area Act 1983, while the Army was given unprecedented powers to detain and arrest civilians by the enactment of the Armed Forces (Punjab and Chandigarh) Act 1983. The act empowered any commissioned, warrant or non-commissioned officer of the Army if "of opinion that it is necessary so to do for the maintenance of public order, after giving such due warning as he may consider necessary, fire upon or otherwise use forces, even to the causing of death". The act also allowed such an officer to "arrest, without warrant, any person who has committed a cognizable offence or against whom a reasonable suspicion exists that he has committed or is about to commit a cognizable offence".Fast Track courts were set up under the Terrorist Affected Areas (Special Courts) Act 1984 to try to sentence suspected terrorists rapidly.Punjab Chief of Police, K.P.S. Gill described the actions as "suffering from all the classical defects of army intervention in civil strife" and stated that the Indian Army had acted "blindly".The army operations were overseen by General Jamwal, who was assigned the responsibility to seal the international border with Pakistan,in an attempt to control smuggling of arms and personnel, and by Gl R.S. Dayal, who was instructed to oversee the apprehension of militants in state of Punjab

Logo

                                                    "The few the fearless "