Cover Story
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Winged Guardians
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Collective civil-military training can save valuable lives in times of crisis |
Lt. Gen. B.S. Pawar [Retd]
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Lt Gen. B.S. Pawar (retd)
Disasters — natural or manmade, are humanitarian emergencies where a society or population’s inherent resources are insufficient to absorb the impact and deal with the consequences. Disaster relief efforts are hazardous by their very nature and resources are often stretched to breaking point. The participation of the army in relief operations is usually due to the necessity of speed of action, proximity of resources and the scale of effort required. These situations are also an opportunity for the army to deploy in a humanitarian relief role, demonstrating its value as more than just a deterrent to war. By employing their instruments of hard power to deliver aid to victims of natural disasters, countries have softened regional perceptions of their might by making humanitarian assistance a central role for their military forces.
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In the event of a disaster, it’s often noticed that a helicopter is the most effective device for emergency relief. Helicopters, with their reach and speed prove to be indispensible tools for dealing with natural disasters. Privately hired helicopters in such operations, function in a standalone mode, with limited numbers of helicopters and are restricted to a large extent by the rules of operation laid down by the Regulatory Authority. The armed forces and specially the Army Aviation corps, due to its geographical locations and structured fleet of helicopters, is the ideal force available for emergency deployment for disaster relief and humanitarian operations. Army aviation pilots with their regular exposure to evacuation of casualties and air maintenance in extremely hazardous terrain are the best trained for rapid response in disaster scenarios.
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