“The Devil’s Brigade” is the nickname given to the elite Para Special Forces of the Indian Army, and that itself should give you an idea of the capabilities of this mighty force.
The job of this special group of men is to infiltrate behind enemy lines and create absolute havoc in the hearts and minds of the opponent. They specialize in unconventional warfare and most of their operations are clandestine in nature. It is often said in the army fraternity that the job profile of the Indian Army Paracommando is to “Make facts sound stranger than fiction”.
The Para SF are a select few battalions in the Parachute Regiment which consists of paratroopers, also known as airborne infantry, which itself is a force to be feared. It is believed that making the cut to join this elite regiment is one of the toughest tasks in the world of armed forces.
In order to become a paracommando, a soldier has to go through a very rigorous selection procedure, which can go on as long as seven to eight months. Seven to eight months of sleep deprivation, runs of upto 80 and 100 kilometers in one go with a complete battle load (about 15 kilograms) strapped to the body, extreme exertion and borderline torture. In short, seven to eight months of pure hell. It is no surprise that the average rejection rate hovers between 90 to 95% .
Once in, the life in the special forces gets only tougher, on top of the extremely tough and continuous training regimen, these warriors are sent off to missions that are simply impossible, but they have and will continue to live up to the saying in the army “We do the difficult as a routine, the impossible may take a little longer”. An example of this would be the “Surgical Strike” or cross border raid in army terms.
The teams inserted deep inside the enemy territory of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir belonged to the 4th and 9th battalions of the Parachute Regiment, both special forces units. The men sent from our side could not have been more than 30-40 in number and yet, the intelligence reports and a few witness accounts show that the casualties inflicted were of 135 confirmed kills. That’s 135 trained and armed enemies of our state neutralized, in a matter of hours. Not a single paracommando was killed in action that night.
The tales of courage and rigor of these men are countless and thus cannot be mentioned in one article, hence I ask you not much, but to read, share and appreciate the deeds of these devils who stand guard to do violence on our part so that we can enjoy peace and believe in angels.
Jai Hind.
