Shri K Vijay Kumar, IPS-who retired as a DGP was the Former Security Advisor to MHA and Government of J&K spoke with conviction and passion about his association with the elite forces during his Special Address. He was the Chief of the Special Task Force of Tamil Nadu that was involved in the death of the Veerappan during Operation Cocoon in 2004.
Quoting his hero David Stirling and the likes, Kumar went on to highlight the qualities that place the ‘Elite Forces’ a notch above the rest. He went down memory lane and spoke from personal incidents about the professional streak of the Elite Forces which left an indelible mark on him. He said, “volunteerism is the number one quality of the Special Forces. They are willing to die for their country and itching to be in a tight spot, the elite are more like a telepathic force and I have the good fortune of seeing them operate from close quarters.”
Kumar spoke at length about the Grey Hounds being amongst the Top forces of the country in counter-insurgency and how the Cobra of the CRPF was modelled on the Grey Hounds. “NTR Ramarao was a patron for Grey Hounds, Jayalalita was a patron for CRPF and Rajiv Gandhi was a patron for NSG and SPG.” K Vijay Kumar quoted incidents from his tenure serving in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, J&K West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh where he witnessed the full potential of the elite forces from close quarters.
“There is no lack of danger but there is an understanding, that because of our training, our culture, our training, our ethos that we will be on the top, that is a belief! It is not diminishing risk but understanding because of discipline, we shall be victorious.” He quoted from Freddie Spencer Chapman’s ‘The Jungle is Neutral’ and said how we borrowed ideas from great men and inducted 300 boys while he was in CRPF from the tribal belt of Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharasthra. These indigenous men became part of the jungle and worked in harmony, securing their beat.
He spoke at length about GSG 9, the Tactical Force of the German’s and sighted examples of their bravery and precision. He spoke from personal experiences while he was DIG of the Special Security Group created for Jayalalita’s protection for threats from LTTE.
Kumar highlighted the vast possibilities of technology quoting an Invisible Drone that the enemy couldn’t see or hear or GPS on ammunition. He spoke about ‘one-minute-drill,’ and reiterated “per capita weapon-wise, gimzos-wise, training-wise you should be the costliest for special forces not because they are asked for but because as a nation, with a sense of pride need you to have these.”
Taking inspiration and citing international Special Forces Kumar stated that, “in combat the Special Forces chooses and loses the best,” in the end he went on to say, “Special Forces are a strategic tool. Special Forces cannot be treated as routine forces. They are Titans.”