Read on Twitter
"It grounds your dreams of going abroad.’"
Myth—Joining the Army means a lifetime spent on the borders of the country.
Reality—Colonel Sunil Sheoran, SM, from PARA (Special Forces) has been sent to nineteen countries during his twenty-five years in uniform.
Myth—Joining the Army means a lifetime spent on the borders of the country.
Reality—Colonel Sunil Sheoran, SM, from PARA (Special Forces) has been sent to nineteen countries during his twenty-five years in uniform.
During a Higher Command course to Australia in 2013, Sheoran was one of nineteen students from different armies around the world. The course strength was forty-two, the rest being made up of Australian Army officers. ‘One day the Australians came up with the idea that we should +
have a friendly cricket match followed by lunch, with the local pitched against the foreign students.
The Australians were, of course, sure they would win.Our team had students from Indonesia, China, Canada, Germany, Egypt and Thailand,’ Sheoran recounts. ‘All these guys had +
The Australians were, of course, sure they would win.Our team had students from Indonesia, China, Canada, Germany, Egypt and Thailand,’ Sheoran recounts. ‘All these guys had +
never played cricket and so naturally, we were a bit jittery about the match,’ he says.
The Australians put up a grand score and when it was the foreign students’ team’s turn, there were loud cheers from the home team, confident about handing out a crushing defeat. +
The Australians put up a grand score and when it was the foreign students’ team’s turn, there were loud cheers from the home team, confident about handing out a crushing defeat. +
They put up a stiff fight but were losing as expected, with one batsman getting out after the other in quick succession.
The Pakistani officer and Sheoran were the last to bat. ‘We put up a stiff fight since we were the only two who had played cricket.+
The Pakistani officer and Sheoran were the last to bat. ‘We put up a stiff fight since we were the only two who had played cricket.+
‘We put up a stiff fight since we were the only two who had played cricket. We didn’t do badly but on the last ball we needed a six to win,’ remembers Sheoran.‘I was on the runner’s side and I walked up to the Pakistani officer and told him, “My friend, this time we fight on the+
same side and we have to win.” The Pakistani officer grinned back and voila! He hit a six much to the delight of the rest of the team.
‘The Aussies were so shocked by this freak win that they couldn’t even have lunch,’ Sheoran remembers, smiling widely.
‘The Aussies were so shocked by this freak win that they couldn’t even have lunch,’ Sheoran remembers, smiling widely.
Colonel Sheoran, from PARA (Special Forces) has been to nineteen countries on various Army courses and appointments in his twenty-five years in uniform.
‘You can join the Army and see the world,’ he says. ‘But believe me—saare jahan se accha, Hindustan hamara.’
‘You can join the Army and see the world,’ he says. ‘But believe me—saare jahan se accha, Hindustan hamara.’
Nicknamed ‘Bullet Catcher’ by his colleagues for his tendency to attract action (he was shot twice in a span of two years right in the beginning of his career), Colonel Sunil Sheoran has many claims to fame but today, he’s dispelling the myth for us that Army officers only get +
to see the borders of the country. Bfore that, however, we need to hear an action story and he obliges wid one that happened early in his career.Sheoran and three of his Naga soldiers were on a dangerous mission chasing Naga insurgents in a village near the Nagaland–Assam border.
We were all dressed in jeans and Naga shawls to stay undercover. While the Naga boys could pass for locals, I thought I could be mistaken for a trader,’ he remembers. ‘Imagine our surprise when we went closer to the insurgents, who were much larger in number, and realized +
that they were all dressed in olive-green. It was an amusing role reversal, where the enemy was in uniform and the Army was in civvies.’
After a long and heated chase, the outnumbered soldiers finally got some back-up support from another team of soldiers from their unit.+
After a long and heated chase, the outnumbered soldiers finally got some back-up support from another team of soldiers from their unit.+
‘When the supporting team asked me for directions, I told them, “We are all in civvies; just shoot anyone you find dressed in Army combats.” And that’s what they did,’ Sheoran says, laughing heartily.
Over the years, he’s been shot a number of times and the bullets that have left a mark on him—one above the heart, another in the shoulder, and yet another one that went through his cheek and neck.
Sheoran has also served at Darshak, the highest post in the Siachen Glacier (19,000 feet) and led the National Security Guard (NSG) team during the hostage rescue in the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai on 26 November 2008. However, with his stints to nineteen different countries,he is+
a poster boy for world travel. Congo, Australia, the US, South Korea, Indonesia, France,Germany, China, Papua New Guinea—you run out of fingers ticking off his travels abroad.
He tells me an amusing story about the time he took a team of Indian Army combat free fallers to the US+
He tells me an amusing story about the time he took a team of Indian Army combat free fallers to the US+
for a joint exercise. Most Indian soldiers come from villages and know very little English and naturally, they found conversation difficult with the Americans who did not know any Hindi. ‘My team consisted of Haryanvis, Garhwalis and Gorkhas amongst other Indian communities,’ he+
says. During a night jump exercise, the American Sergeant on the jump was worried if the Indian soldiers had understood his instructions or not—he feared they might get lost in the darkness.+
After the jump, Sheoran went to check if all his men had reached safely and was happy to find them all there. When he conveyed this to the men, they started laughing sheepishly.+
Operation Black Tornado
No reference to Colonel Sunil Sheoran would be complete without mentioning the fact that he was commanding the elite counter-terrorism unit, 51 Special Action Group, NSG when the Mumbai terror attacks shook the nation in Nov+
No reference to Colonel Sunil Sheoran would be complete without mentioning the fact that he was commanding the elite counter-terrorism unit, 51 Special Action Group, NSG when the Mumbai terror attacks shook the nation in Nov+
Ten members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamic militant organization based in Pakistan, perpetuated acts of terror and death in Mumbai over three days of shooting and bomb attacks. The senseless violence began on 26 November and lasted till 29 November, killing 164 people and +
wounding 308. The NSG was called in to neutralize the terrorists who had taken hostages inside hotels and were putting them to death.
An expert in counter-terrorism and special operations, Sheoran led his group during this mission called Operation Black Tornado. +
An expert in counter-terrorism and special operations, Sheoran led his group during this mission called Operation Black Tornado. +
The fearless commandos blazed their way inside the Taj Mahal Hotel, the Oberoi and Nariman House and successfully neutralized nine terrorists. The final operation at the Taj Mahal Hotel was completed by the NSG commandos at 8 a.m. on 29 November, killing the last three terrorists
They rescued 250 people from the Oberoi, 300 from the Taj and 60 from Nariman House. They lost two bravehearts in the process—Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan and Havildar Gajendra Singh.
Source: SHOOT. DIVE. FLY.
By Rachna Bhist Rawat Mam.
By Rachna Bhist Rawat Mam.
