'Bald Eagle' keeps sharp eye on Kutch

Ahmedabad, Apr 27 (UNI) Troops of one of Indian Army's elite Infantry Division, the Golden Katar (GK) Division through its 'Bald Eagle' Brigade, keeps constant vigil in the formidable Rann of Kutch (RoK) in western Gujarat.

Crossing the tropic of cancer and going further beyond the 'India Bridge', the sun gets hotter and brighter. The mirages get exemplified further into oasis-like images where it is easy to be misled and be swallowed by a quicksand or be lost easily in case of an attempted misadventure.

It is in such arid, marshy and treacherous terrain that 'Bald Eagle' Brigade undertakes constant vigil and trains hard during peacetime in the Kutch peninsula.

It is a terrain that has no parallel in the world, and interspersed with seawater flowing in and out with tidal dispositions, make the RoK one of the most formidable and unique tactical areas for any military operations.

The RoK sector has seen skirmishes during the 1965 Indo-Pak war.

Ever since, with the creation of the GK Infantry Division in Gujarat, the entire RoK sector, comprising over 10,000 sq miles between the Gulf of Kutch and the mouth of the Indus River in southern Pakistan, has remained under the watchful and ever-vigilant gaze of the Indian Armed Forces.

The GK Infantry Division through its other subsidiary Brigades in addition, also undertakes vigil and operations in other sectors, including south Rajasthan and Saurashtra in Gujarat.

This week mediapersons witnessed simulated exercises by the troops of the Bald Eagle Brigade. One saw a tactical capture of a bunker in one of the 'Bets', a raised feature in the otherwise low-lying RoK, a first-hand training of the Army in the region. And the mighty T-55 tanks that often traverse the vastness of the RoK also remain unseen by the public gaze.

An enemy would think twice before he would start any misadventure.

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