Who Is A Military Genius?

One Colonel and a Major were martyred in a recent terrorist attack in J&K. Watching this news on TV Chanel, my friend exclaimed, “There must be some tactical error in planning or execution else two officers won’t die at the same spot.” I tried explaining to him that every military operation is planned very meticulously with minute details. Various contingencies are also taken care of. But in a tactical operation like a militant attack, the situation changes from minute to minute. The situation is so dynamic that one has to make decisions instantaneously, and that too when your life is at stake. You never know from which direction the next bullet will be fired. This is decision-making under extremely challenging situations. And you cannot practice this. You have a few split seconds to decide what should be the next course of action and then have the courage to take that decision. You can’t say, I will think and decide. There is no time to think. You have to make a decision. Right or wrong. This is the ultimate test of the human decision-making process.

The decision-making process depends on our state of mind. And the state of mind varies with our emotions. Our emotional state of mind impacts our decision-making ability. In an extremely difficult situation, someone may hesitate to make a decision while the other takes it as if it's a regular affair. This ability varies from person to person.

In day-to-day life, emotions like happiness, anger, anxiety, depression, fear, and envy affect our decisions. Decision made in a given situation varies with emotions. When we are angry, we tend to make hasty decisions leading to regret. However, the decisions taken with a calm and composed mind result in a favorable outcome.

Akin to many situations in life, investing is also driven by sentiments. The stock market is governed by emotions like greed and fear. When the market goes up, the emotions are overflowing with expectations and exuberance. And when the market tumbles, there is despair everywhere. This drama of emotions has been continuing for ages. Be it a trader or investor, no one can escape this. And when there is money involved, it is very easy to lose your mind. Once emotions start playing on our minds, we tend to make irrational decisions.

The military leaders do not have the luxury to make irrational decisions as the stakes are too high. They are directly responsible for the nation and also for the lives of many soldiers. However, a military officer is also a human being. He also has emotions. He is also prone to errors. But he cannot afford to make blunders. And he usually doesn’t. What differentiates him from the crowd is his mindset and situational awareness. This mindset is attributed to the selection process whereas the situational awareness to the periodic military exercises. A military person is selected based on psychological tests. These tests have evolved after extensive research and are being followed throughout the world. Once inducted, this mindset is further reinforced by life-long rigorous training, age-old ethos, and the value system. Hence, even in a crowd, one can distinctly make out the military person by his demeanor. Once a soldier, always a soldier.

Napoleon said, “A military genius is a man who can do the average thing when everyone else around him is losing his mind.”