BSF stages one-minute combat drill

A batch of 125 new recruits of the Border Security Force (BSF) Saturday staged a one-minute drill at a passing out parade on the city's outskirts to demonstrate their fighting fitness.

"In these days of asymmetric warfare, we do not know where the enemy is, where the next ambush or assault could be. As reaction time has to be quick, we have adopted the one-minute drill to keep our forces fighting fit," a BSF officer told IANS here.

The 59th batch of sub-inspector trainees, including three women, have undergone 48 weeks of intense training at the BSF's subsidiary training centre near Yelahanka, 25 km from the city centre.

"As our forces are required to make best use of resources and time available in adverse circumstances, we train them to counteract in the shortest time to avert evil designs of anti-national forces," the officer said after the parade.

Karnataka Home Minister K.J. George inspected the guard of honour and took the salute in the presence of BSF Deputy Inspector General P.V. Eapen and other officers.

"The one-minute drill has been drawn from various sources, including the 'mad minute' of Major General Robert E. Lee in the Mexican civil war of 1861, who was of the view that to survive any ambush, one has to exploit that one mad minute where a few seconds decide one's survival," Kumar said.

The BSF also took a leaf from the "One-Minute Manager", authored by Kenneth Blenchard and Spencer Johnsons in the US during the 1970s wherein they suggested that all armed personnel should be one-minute mangers and any crisis should be a regular diet and a source to thin on toes about survival.

"We have introduced this one-minute exercise in our sessions on the principle that training should not be straining but must be entertaining. Fun games not only ignite team spirit among trainees, but also enhances their physical efficacy," Kumar said.

The recruits also staged a weapon drill to demonstrate their skills in handling various weapons for safety, accuracy, speed and surprise used in reflex shooting.

"The trainees displayed how to disassemble and reassemble the Insas rifle, Insas LMG (light machine gun) and AK-47 using only one hand only during the weapon drill," Kumar said.