Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus, who wrote about the Roman military institutions and especially the critique of the much weakened Later Roman Empire as compared to the Earlier Roman Empire, notes philosophically, “In war, discipline is superior to strength; but if that discipline is neglected there is no longer any difference between the soldier and the peasant”.
This is a shared belief handed down by generations within the profession-of-arms onto the unforgiving Drill Instructors or ‘Ustaads’ in Military Training Academies.
The backbone of Military discipline, these Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO’s) have instilled the steel, perfection and ramrod posture of physical and behavioural standards that would remain in place, long after the proverbial sword has been put to scabbard and sheathed, post-retirement.
Even now, the fiery Ustaad screaming, “GC aisa foot maarega ki aasman me dhuan aur zamin pe chingari uteghaa….aur Mussoorie main honeymoon walon ko pata chale ki Indian Military Academy mein loha ban raha hai” (Gentleman cadet, ram the foot so hard that clouds in the sky and fireworks from the ground better jut out….those honeymooning in Mussoorie must get to know that we are minting iron in the Academy), still sends shivers down the spine.
Yes, it is the physical, mental, and psychological transformation to an almost inhumane level and construct that gets minted in these Military Academies that routinely guarantees the ‘impossible’, whilst in combat.