[R-G] Indian, US Warships to Carry Out Wargames in Arabian Sea

[Anthony Fenton]

FYI.

US soldiers to learn guerrilla warfare in Mizoram forest
July 26th, 2008 - 12:41 pm ICT by IANS -
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/us-soldiers-to-learn-guerrilla-warfare-in-mizoram-forest_10076013.html

By Syed Zarir Hussain
Vairengte (Mizoram), July 26 (IANS) Thirty US soldiers are set to  
undergo training for three weeks in low-intensity guerrilla warfare  
from Indian anti-terror experts in the forests of Mizoram, military  
officials said Saturday. An Indian army commander said the training on  
unconventional warfare begins Aug 2 at the Counter Insurgency Jungle  
Warfare School (CIJWS) at Vairengte, about 100 km from state capital  
Aizawl.

A group of 30 elite Indian army commandos, including four officers,  
will also take part in the joint exercise.

“The training schedule involves a rigorous drill on how to tackle  
urban terrorism and low intensity conflict, besides simulated anti- 
insurgency operations for the American soldiers,” a senior army  
official told IANS, requesting anonymity.

The 30 US soldiers are from the Special Forces or the Green Berets,  
tasked with eight primary missions - unconventional warfare, foreign  
internal defence, special reconnaissance, direct action, counter- 
terrorism, counter-proliferation, psychological operations and  
information operations.

“The US soldiers would share their experiences in tackling urban  
terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan, while the Indians would pass on  
their tactics used in Jammu and Kashmir and parts of the northeast,”  
the commander said.

There was a similar exercise in the past involving Indian and US  
soldiers at Vairengte.

The school at Vairengte is considered one of the world’s most  
prestigious anti-terrorist institutions with troops from several  
countries getting counter-insurgency training.

“The motto of the institute is to fight a guerrilla like a guerrilla,”  
a CIJWS commander said.

“The training module is non-conventional and once a soldier undergoes  
training here, he can face all deadly situations anywhere in the world.”

About 250 American soldiers have already undergone training at  
Vairengte in the last four years.

“The troops are taught to live in difficult and hostile terrain, eat  
and sleep like the guerrilla and strike as silently as the guerrilla,”  
the commander said.

“The exercise is aimed at honing special skills for soldiers who are  
exposed to terrorist attacks in recent years.”

Spurred by the successes in combating militancy to a great extent, New  
Delhi in 2001 opened the school at Vairengte for soldiers from abroad  
with three US army officers being the first overseas batch to be  
trained.

But it was only after the Sep 11, 2001 terror strikes in the US that  
the jungle warfare school at Vairengte began attracting military  
cadets from across the world.

The training module includes lectures and seminars, besides mock  
operations in the rugged jungles in Mizoram.

The Vairengte School at present runs four counter-insurgency and  
jungle warfare courses open only to officers and soldiers below 28  
years of age.

The school was set up in 1970 after Indian soldiers suffered heavy  
casualties at the hands of northeastern rebels who were adept at hit- 
and-run guerrilla tactics.


On 21-Aug-08, at 9:03 AM, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:

> Washington wants India to play roughly the same role it did during the
> days of the Indian Army under the British Empire:
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Indian_Army#Function>. -- Yoshie
>
> <http://www.thehindu.com/holnus/001200808211551.htm>
> Indian, US warships to carry out wargames in Arabian Sea