Indo-US Military exercise 2016: Indian Army battle-ready with 'Yudh Abhyas'

The Indian and US army are conducting a joint military training exercise ‘Yudh Abhyas’ 2016 at Chaubattia in Uttarakhand. The exercise that commenced about a fortnight back witnessed the soldiers upgrade themselves with strategies of fighting and doctrines of combating the enemy. The bilateral training exercise will conclude on September 27.

All the drills are being conducted as per the strict guidlines of the UN. The exercise is being held in the forest area of Chaubattia, where the altitude ranges from 6000 feet to 7800 feet. The Indian and the US Army soldiers are taking part in this two-week long joint drill that will see them fine tune their tactical and technical skills in countering terrorism.

Some of the key highlights of the joint exercise are as follows:

1. ‘Yudh Abhyas’ is not merely a joint military exercise but the operational drills on ground have been made very close to hypothetical war like situation so that it serves as in active combat engagement.

2. Though it has been hailed as military exercise but the ultimate objective of the exercise from an Indian standpoint is to achieve war preparedness ahead of its proposed offensive strategy the security forces might adopt.

3. The mountainous region of Ranikhet has been specifically chosen for the exercise as the physical topography and geographical conditions are very much akin to Kashmir where the terrorist camps operate.

4. The exercise specifically focusses on search and drill operations. The Indian army shall have gained expertise and insights on combative tactics of the enemy like how does the terrorist set traps, how does he sit in an ambush and how he does resort to guerrilla warfare techniques.

5. Some of the drills of the exercise include how to combat the terrorist when they intrude from difficult areas and take camouflage through natural defences.

6. The drill not only focuses on the physical dimension of warfare but also covers the important elements of planning, preparation and execution of strategies. The drill also stresses on making use of state of the art equipment for tracking, identification and surveillance.

The US contingent is being represented by a Company of 5th Infantry Battalion, 20 Infantry Regiment, 2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7 Infantry Division, US Army while the Indian side is being represented by an Infantry Battalion.

It can be very well summed up that the timeliness of the war exercise is brilliant as the Indian army shall be better prepared to combat and engage the enemy in any military action planned out by the higher command in the near future.

The army is living up to the famous military cliché -  "Those who train in peace, bleed less in war".