“March with the Indian Army and pay tribute to the saga of the unknown soldier with honour and pride” is the slogan of the 10-part TV reality show produced by the National Geographic (Nat Geo) and currently being aired extensively on Star Network.

Having produced Mission Udaan — Inside the Indian Air Force in 2005 and Mission Navy — Lehron ke Sartaj in 2008, showcasing both the services in their full glory, Nat Geo channel launched a project to make a similar programme on the Indian Army, called Mission Army — Desh ke Rakshak.
Extensive interaction between the Army and Nat Geo resulted in this mega reality series aimed at giving TV viewers an insight into the “making of an Army officer” and “life in the Army” through the eyes of a few civilian youth, selected and further trained. The serial showcases the history, values, customs and traditions as also operational and administrative activities of various combat arms and services of the Army in varied terrain and extremes of climatic conditions.
Three young men and two young women were selected after clearing physical, mental and medical tests of actual Army standards during the auditions. Mr Ramon Chibb, a former Army officer of the Kumaon Regiment, is an asset to Nat Geo channel and helps in the production of such programmes across Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi. Its success can be gauged by the fact that over 30,000 participants from all over India came to try to be the part of this mega reality show. Some of the participants were: Ela Vohra, 23, working at IBM India, Pune, Priyanka Chand Oswal, 19, from a Pune college, Rohan Vijay Takalkar, 24, running a fitness club in Pune, Rudrashish Sengupta, 22, from St. Xavier’s college, Mumbai and Kuldeep Rana, 24, pursuing MBA from JIMS, Delhi.
Interacting at length with this newspaper, Mr Chibb, senior vice-president, National Geographic and Fox International channels, India, said, “After grilling 30,000 enthusiastic and patriotic youth applicants across the country, Nat Geo selected the final five who embarked on a journey to win themselves a never before opportunity to experience the life of an Indian Army officer.
The National Geographic channel has taken the viewers to locations and places where no one has ever been before and our Mission properties in the past have lived up to this tradition. We have worked closely with the Indian Army for our biggest Mission property — Mission Army — Desh ke Rakshak and will give our viewers a peak into the second largest Army of the world, the Indian Army. I firmly believe that in the age of scripted reality shows, a docu-reality show like Mission Army will attract millions of people from different age groups across the country. Mission Army — Desh Ke Rakshak is a 10-part series which will give us an insight into all of its arms and services of the Army.”
Inside the Indian Army, the first episode starts with a re-created story of Capt. Vikram Batra, hero of the Kargil was in 1999 narrated by his then Commanding Officer, Brigadier Joshi. It is followed by the introduction to the Indian Army, considered as the third largest in the world and what it takes to be an officer in it. Through the eyes of young civilians, viewers watch the selection process with high medical fitness standards and the aspirants going through a battle obstacle course at the Rajputana Rifles Regimental Centre to get their first feel of the training in the Army.
In episode two on the Indian Military Academy, the alma mater of an Indian Army officers, the chosen five go through a tough training schedule by learning the basics of the Army life as gentleman cadets and lady cadets — of drill, physical training, firing an INSAS rifle, doing night-outdoor camping, negotiating the tough Russian obstacle course and finally crossing obstacles while live bullets are being fired over their heads as a doze of “battle inoculation”.
In episode three, with the Infantry, shows how it operates in various and toughest of terrain in the country, including the highest battlefield in the world — Siachen — where the temperature can be as low as -60º centigrade. This episode covers the training in the Siachen Battle School and the High-Altitude Battle School. The five contestants go through commando training at the Infantry school in Belgaum, compulsory for all Infantry officers. This includes unarmed combat, raid, rock climbing, escape and evasion and surviving by living off the land, which also involves catching, skinning, cooking and eating a snake. Their final task is the challenging climb and crawl to a 60-foot-high board and jumping down into a swimming pool.
Episode four takes the team to the Armoured Corps and the Mechanised Infantry Regimental Centres at Ahmednagar, where the contestants learn about customs and traditions of the cavalry and functioning mechanised forces. They get a great opportunity to learn how to drive the state of the art T-72 and the T-90 battle tanks, fire guns and watch the complex flotation manoeuvres by the amphibious infantry combat vehicles in water.
Episode five, about artillery and air defence, involves deployment of big high-decibel guns in all terrain, learning the role of artillery and the performance of Bofors field guns in the Kargil war. The contestants function as artillery observation post officers, who guide the firing of guns over long ranges.
In episode six, on the Army’s aviation division finds the team in the Army’s helicopters, the contestants get exposure to the complexity of flying in high altitude and the role of Army Aviation Corps in support of the combat arms. The indigenously designed Advanced Light Helicopter, Dhruv and the versatile Cheetah and Chetak helicopters are profiled in extremely challenging conditions of flying in inaccessible terrain like the Siachen heights and the scorching deserts. At the Combat Aviation Training School the contestants learn what it takes to be an Army aviator, fly the Cheetah simulator and navigate Chetak helicopter in a casualty evacuation mission.
The technical arms of the Army is dealt with in episode seven. The team watches the Sappers (engineers) construct bridges, lay mines and handle high explosives as well as work with sophisticated communication equipment of the Corps of Signals. They get to drive the tank trawler and also lay underwater depth charges. Their final task is breaching a minefield and blowing up a railway track with explosives.
Episode eight covers the Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps, Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (EME) and the Army Medical Corps. The team learns how the Army is administered, how it gets its logistics support and how it is kept battle-ready at all the times. The contestants get a feel of repairing and maintaining a battle tank with EME.
Episode nine showcases counter-terrorist operations in the Kashmir Valley and on the Line of Control (LoC). The Corps Battle School at Srinagar imparting training for counter-terrorist operations is highlighted; it includes fighting a battle in a built-up urban areas, where the margin of error is very small. Here, the contestants get training and are tasked to flush out terrorists from a village set up to perform such drills, on the LoC, they learn how the Indian Army soldiers are on alert 24x7.
Episode 10, The Grand Finale, is about the Indian Armymen who spend their lives reinventing themselves to fight in all possible scenarios — the paratroopers. Specialists of raid who know no obstacle and are trained to operate behind the enemy lines.
On rare display are some of the unique customs and traditions of this coveted maroon berets regiment, which has tough standards and a probation period, not everybody can pass. The final task for the five contestants is a parachute jump from a helicopter. This episode will also decide the winner of Mission Army. The winner will have the opportunity to be a part of an overseas Indian military contingent.
An exciting development for Ela Vohra has been that she was recently selected for pre-commission training at the Officers Training Academy, Chennai.
While there is no doubt that the this programme will go down well with the viewers, it remains to be seen how much difference they can make in the near future in attracting more academically, physically and mentally fit youngsters to join the Army, which is still short of about 12,000 officers.

Anil Bhat, a retired Army officer, is a defence and security analyst based in New Delhi