Role of officers in Burmese Army - Part II

Sunday, 24 January 2010 15:59 Bo Htet Min (Commentary)

Mizzima News - I will continue with presenting the dealing between young and newly appointed officers and their older and more experienced non-commissioned officers. Sometimes these young officers object to the drinking of army rum by their platoon Sgt. The army rum bottles are issued in the Tatmadaw (Armed Forces) as ration. But these young officers themselves consume the rum though they object to drinking by their subordinates. Then, the squiffy Sergeants are defiant and challenge them saying we can fight 100 battles any time better than you can, even when drunk. Sometimes these new graduates from the academy tighten the rules unnecessarily. Sometimes they intervene in handling of non-commissioned officers in violation of rules by the soldiers. These trivial things can grow into big problems.

Sometimes, in the battlefield, the young officers oppose the orders given by more experienced non-commissioned officers on their behalf. These old and experienced non-commissioned officers try to save their soldiers in surprise engagements by flanking, ordering a section to surround the enemy’s rearguard, asking for cover fire from infantry heavy weaponry so as not to fall in the enemy’s killing field. At that time, these young officers create problems with their subordinate non-commissioned officers.

Moreover when the army column is at a stopover and is communicating with the higher unit on wireless during military operations or while the unit has stopped for a considerable time for preparing meals, these experienced non-commissioned officers usually arrange a lookout and scout duty at a distance in groups of two for security reasons. Then these newly graduated officers object to them and order for alternate lookout at short distances by giving reasons related to tiredness and exhaustion of the column. But these non-commissioned officers confront their junior officers and insist on doing as they say drawing lessons from their experience. This situation can cause tension between them.

So in the frontline, some say bullets coming from behind are more dangerous than bullets coming from the front (enemy). There are many incidents of shooting officers from behind by soldiers of their own force when tension is heightened between them during engagement and clashes with the enemy. If these young officers do not treat platoon sergeants and warrant officers under their command with due respect, they will be severely criticized by their subordinates in their absence. Sometimes the company commanders have to intervene in the growing tension between platoon commander (young officers) and their non-commissioned officers.

So some company commanders attach the newly graduated young officers at their company headquarter for some time before finally sending them to their platoons. But when in an emergency, the company commanders cannot attach these young officers to their headquarters; they have to send them directly and quickly to their platoons. At these times, they encounter an immediate tense situation in dealing with their subordinates based on misunderstandings.

Some platoon offices can have a good meal depending on the smartness of the batmen of the platoon commanders. But some platoon commanders do not have such luxury while they are in a military operation when their batmen are not smart enough to find required meat, vegetable and other recipes. At such times, these young officers cannot control themselves and bully their batmen. Sometimes these new and young officers ask for more rations from their old-service non-commissioned officers at the company headquarters. At such times, the non-commissioned officers encounter a disappointing and difficult situation in dealing with these young officers.

Some young officers do not want to carry their own backpacks and send their orderlies and batmen to the company headquarters office for getting porters, especially while the porters are in short supply on the frontline. Then these batmen have to quarrel with the sergeants and warrant officers present. In fact, if these young officers carry their backpacks themselves on the frontline, they can easily win sneaking respect and trust from their subordinates and eventually they can handle the soldiers under their command well. By fulfilling just the basic needs of these soldiers such as supplying cheroot, liquor and vegetables, they can win affection and respect from the soldiers easily.

On the other hand, the young officers know well how these non-commissioned officers and soldiers get poor training at the training schools. They get angry when these poorly trained subordinates do not show due respect and pay attention to them by underestimating them for their youth. Battles and engagements with the enemy have been declining so that the esprit de corps among them are also decreasing. After that, they easily lose their temper when they encounter trivial matters and cannot control themselves. There will be no room for mutual understanding and compromise among them. With ever growing newly established battalions, some young and inexperienced soldiers get premature promotion to non-commissioned officers. Then the officers lose their respect and trust too.

Giving corporal punishment to the soldiers who violate the rule is better than writing on their service book with red ink and imprisoning them but some soldiers counter the corporal punishment given to them with hostile action following deep resentment. The officers should give such corporal punishment to their soldiers only when they once save their lives on the frontline and in return the soldiers consider them as their saviours and have respect for them. Otherwise this sort of punishment will be counterproductive. Sometimes they should ignore even if they commit severe violations. It should be left to non-commissioned officers to handle such cases. Under immense hardships and unbearable oppression on other ranks, the Tatmadaw is becoming a ticking time bomb full of discontent and dissatisfaction. In this situation, let me say, the unity in armed forces is also becoming weaker and weaker by the day.