AFVOA Newletters of Year 2005

Page 68 of 75 (g) Vice Admiral Suresh Mehta FOC-in-C, Eastern Naval Command wef 01 Oct 2005 (h) Air Marshal A Bhavam Vice Chief of Air Staff wef 01 Aug 2005 (j) Air Marshal AD Joshi C-in-C of Strategic Force Command with immediate effect (k) Shri NS Sisodia Director, IDSA with immediate effect. 26. Birth of Army South Western Command. As part of moves to strategically deploy forces in a changed missile and nuclear environment, a new Army Command to protect the country’s strategic sector from Punjab to Rajasthan became operational on 17 Aug 2005. The announcement of the new Command becoming operational was made in Jaipur with the hoisting of its new standard, displaying of a silver streak symbolising offensive action, with a seven-pointed star, by its now Army Commander, Lt Gen K Nagaraj. With its headquarters to be located in Jaipur, the new South Western command has become operational in just a short span of four months, official sources said. With this the Indian Army would now have seven Commands, from the world’s highest battlefield Siachen glacier to impenetrable monsoon jungles of the North-East. The new Command, which would have force levels of two Corps, including strike and holding formations, will now cover the key areas of Fazilka and Abohar in Punjab upto Ganganagar and Bikaner districts in Rajasthan carved out of operational areas of Western and Southern Army Commands. 27. The Chandimandir-based Western Command will now take over the operational responsibilities of the international border with Pakistan between Pathankot and Jammu, leaving the Udhampur based Northern Command to look after the security of the 742-km long Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and Sino-lndian border in Ladakh. ~ Source; The Hindu 17 Aug 05 28. 8 th Reunion of Army Ordnance Corps. The 8 th Reunion of AOC and Corps Committee Meeting will be conducted at AOC Centre, Trimulgherry, Secunderabad-500015 from 08 to 10 Dec 2005. Officers and families desirous of attending the Reunion may contact the Centre Adjutant on 040-27717376 or Secretary, Reunion Cell on 09246877838. 29. Colonel-in-Chief. Probably for the first time in the history of any Army in the World, a Penguin (Mascot) of the Norwegian Army has been appointed as its Colonel-in-Chief. It was a wonderful sight watching the “ Colonel-in-Chief ” inspecting a parade with some senior Officers following in step. The bird was about 2 feet in height and walking majestically, occasionally ‘checking’ the boots of the soldiers. ~ NDTV 24×7 on 18 Aug 2005. 30. A logistical problem at Siachen being solved by Army. There is a lesser known but tricky logistics problem infighting the war at Siachen. The problem relates to disposal of the piling human excreta. Because of very low temperatures, insufficient oxygen and lack of sub- soil, the faecal waste does not disintegrate at Siachen, thereby causing a serious environmental hazard. The Army has been carting away the excreta so far by porters, by aerial cable-way, and by helicopters; all of which are expensive and clumsy. Finally, the Army has found a satisfactory solution to the problem by installing solar powered bio-digesters at most posts, which burn and destroy the excreta and make the area environmentally safe. Incidentally, the biogas produced by these digesters is gainfully used for heating purposes, partly reducing the fuel requirement.