Taking Lessons from a Military operation

We heard, read, and wrote about various virtues such as planning, commitment, deadlines, preparedness, determination, risk-taking, and many others. But have we put them into effect in our lives?

This action-packed story about the Indian military demonstrates what it’s like to live by morals and inspires you to do the same.

This incident occurred in the evening of June 19, 2014.  

Duty First

Capt. Dangi, who generally listens carefully to what Ritu says(his fiancée), appeared to be distracted. He cut the call abruptly saying, “Ritu, Listen. I can’t talk now. I’ll speak you later. Don’t call back “.  The commando then rushed to the mission briefing room. A fresh intelligence input had alerted the crew to the presence of a wanted terrorist in a Buckoo hamlet house, which was just around 10 kilometers away.

Team Work

It was 1700 hours when Capt. Dangi and his eight-man team landed in Buckoo village, backed by three Rashtriya Rifles and the J&K police special operations unit. The major mission of this squad was to find a most wanted terrorist in the most effective and efficient method possible, with a 100% success record and no innocent persons harmed. To accomplish this, they must work together to achieve this purpose.

Setting Deadline

We must complete the job before nightfall sets, as the darkness would allow them to escape, said Capt. Dangi to his soldiers.

Taking Calculated Risk

Once they took the positions around those buildings, Capt. Dangi using his Molar Mic warned terrorists to surrender which was a regular drill during the conduct of counter-terrorism operations which exposes soldiers to enormous additional risks.

Their objective is to keep innocent people safe during the operation and to offer the terrorists one more chance to surrender, despite the fact that this increases the soldier’s risk of being injured or killed.

Fearless mindset to face challenges 

Adil didn’t respond to Capt.Dangi’s call.

Instead, he jumped across the compound’s back wall and opened the fire on Capt.Dangi and Mukhesh.

As Capt.Dangi and Mukhesh Dodge the first hail of bullets, they fire straight into the terrorist’s body.

When they realised there had been no response from the terrorist, they took a few seconds to relax, assuming they had the man. They were, however, incorrect. Everything is only getting started.

A few seconds after, the first terrorist was killed, to the surprise of the Capt. and his team, two more terrorists emerged from their hiding place and opened fire on Capt. Dangi’s position.

Elements of Surprise and the Courage to Face Them

The terrorists took the soldiers by surprise. The two men who just emerged were not making any attempt to escape like the first one- they were in all-out-attack mode. They emerged by surprise to finish the commandos off. And one of them was Adil Ahmed Mir, the most wanted Hizbul commander. Their firing was so accurate that two bullets ripped through Capt. Dangi, One is through his abdomen and one through his left thigh.

Giving a Hope

Capt. inspected his injuries and quickly glanced at his buddy. To his horror, Mukhesh was bleeding and has sustained nearly identical injuries.

Capt. Dangi quickly dragged Mukesh to a position behind a tree that made him less vulnerable to the incoming fire. Capt. Dangi told Mukesh that “Nothing has happened. It’s a minor wound”. Pointing to his own wounds, Capt. Dandi told him “2 bullets were not enough to kill a commando”, the operation would be over soon and help was on its way. Mukhesh smiled weakly, with a thumbs-up gesture.

Bounce Back with Valour and Spirit

“I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs but by how high he bounces when he hits bottom.” – General George S. Patton

He realises that if the terrorists flee into the jungle, it will be extremely difficult and perhaps impossible to find them again. And if this operation fails, the country will be put at great risk. He decided to fight back vigorously despite severe bleeding.

Despite his wounds and dripping blood, Capt. Dangi took cover behind a tree with his TAR-21 and opened fire on the advancing terrorists.

During the heated crossfire, the officer’s bullet struck one of the terrorists, knocking him to the ground.

That terrorist was none other than Adil Ahmed Mir.

Just as Captain Dangi was about to shoot and kill the other terrorists, a bullet hit his assault rifle, jamming it and rendering it useless. He quickly picked up Mukesh’s rifle, but it was empty, so he replaced magazine, but by then, the other terrorist had fled into the tall grass

Adil was injured but still alive, and his hands could still fire the round. As the Captain approached Adil to authenticate his identify and take the final headshot, Adil fired a shot aimed at Capt. Dangi’s head. However, the bullet missed the target and injured Capt. Dangi’s cheek skin.

Then Capt. Dangi rushed up to him and fired 10 rounds of ammunition into him, including a headshot. Meanwhile, the third terrorist fled towards the canyon and Capt. Dangi rushed after him, ignoring his wounds, and shot him with a brief burst of close-range fire and a final headshot.

Working in Mission Mode

And can you guess how long it took to complete this entire operation? The operation took less than 20 minutes from start to finish. From the moment the first terrorist opened fire until Capt. Dangi fired the final headshot. It had just been 8 minutes. Yes, so much happened in just 8minutes.

Award

Six months later, on 25 January 2015, Capt. Jaidev Dangi awarded India’s second highest peacetime gallantry award, the KIRTHI CHAKRA, for displaying “dauntless courage and extraordinary valour under heavy fire from close quarters in the face of certain death,” which he received from President Pranab Mukharji in Rastrapati Bhawan on 21 March 2015. 

We are really fortunate to be surrounded by such legends. And there is so much more to learn from them and incorporate into our lives.

If you look closely, You can draw many lessons from this story. I’ll leave you to make your own conclusions you choose from the story, and I encourage you to share any key takeaways with other readers as well.

There is a proverb that states, “There would be no hellos if there were no goodbyes,” so allow me to say goodbye in order to greet you again. Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day! Jai Hind!