Hi, God bless hos soul-----but it is not the job of the colonel to do this kind of stuff or that of a genarl to jump from the first helicopter----. Pakistanis need to change their mindset---what it shows it that the officers are having a hard time delegating power and responsibility----it also shows that there are less capable junior officers and personale in the group which cannot perform the right job----. It shows a failure----that the colonel had to do the job himself that should have been done by a couple of non coms----. The issue regarding the bravery of the colonel or the brigadier is not challenged----their braveries are not an issue here---rather their action----delegation of authority and properly trained staff to carry out the rescue or lead the first batch of troops into the enemy area---.
O sir ji..kidhar ki baat kidhar lay gaye hain ap..? It's not the matter of having difficulty in delegation of responsibilities or whether he was facing disobedience. You raised the question of 'having untrained individuals doing the job', well guess what, i can bet while sitting here that not everyone on the entire team working in Attabad Lake would be knowing how to swim! That's a hard fact. This is Pakistan, not New York Fire Deptt. Adhoc basis pe kaam..jugard bazi...limited resources....taking risks (most of the time miscalculated)...it is like this how things work in our part of the world. i know, this is wrong, but then that's the harsh reality. What do you think people in the country you reside have handled this problem? Let me guess, the engineers team would have withdrawn to a safer place....experts would have been called...those who actually know 'rescue' would have taken over the job....a few sea king choppers would have been employed...safety would have been kept at priority one...media would already have taken over the scene, virtually pressurizing the govt and the military 'not to fcuk up'!....and by the time it would have ended, all must have been done well... MK, i think you know this that things dont work on similar lines here. People are strangled..ok...get some ropes....oh sir ji..ropes tu choti hain...hell..send a vehicle and buy a longer rope...oh sir ji...gari to ration lainay gayee hoi hai....fcuk!....info the HQ to dispatch another vehicle with ropes....and by the time the ropes would reach...the strangled might already have been flushed away....heck..we had established our first ever rescue organization (the Rescue 1122) after 60 years of our independence, and our people expect them to perform like 911.. MK sir, i know you are pained with this loss, i am too...and it's rather odd that a Colonel had to do a work which could have been handled by others..but that's the dilemma. i know everyone under this Colonel's command must have stopped him from doing this...i know that all of them volunteered themselves for the act, but the colonel knew that the technical personnel (the crane operators, the labor, the military excavating staff, the rope and lashing experts etc etc) most of them would not be master swimmers, so instead of risking them the Officer thought that it would be better for him to go himself. i am sure he must have had junior officers who must have presented themselves to go, but it was better for him to die rather getting one of his youngsters killed and then telling the family that it was he who send them to death. This was not Swat or Waziristan where people die in routine. i hope you are getting my point. Equipment 1950s ka...expectation of output..2010 level ki.... Books perhaty hain Sindh Text Book Board, Jamshoro ...baba saeenn..!!! and we expect them to be absorbed by Google and Microsoft, no questions asked. i know we (not only the Army or the military but the entire Pakistan) has to over come such issues that occur because of lack of the requite staff, training, resources, equipment etc, but for doing this, we not only require more monies but also a more educated trainees who in turn can perform upto the level the equipment they would be using, wants them to be. In the last, allow me to assure you that i am not sure how this military might perform in war, i am not sure how this military might perform in an event of a catastrophe etc, but one thing i am sure of, the soldiers, airmen, and sailors of this military would sacrifice themselves before their Officer comes in a harms way. That has been my experience and that i have no doubt about whatsoever!