— Photo: PTI

THE DAREDEVILS: Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta inspects the guard of honour at the investiture ceremony held at INS Kunjali in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Mumbai: They dress like terrorists, wear long beards, move about like militants and even tote AK-47 assault rifles. The Marine Commandos of the Indian Navy, whom the sailors call `Marcos', follow in letter and spirit the adage of the counter-insurgency doctrine: fight an insurgent like an insurgent.

The `Marcos' stole the show at the special naval investiture here on Tuesday when Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sureesh Mehta pinned Nao Sena Medal (Gallantry) on the chests of three of them for outsmarting foreign terrorists in movement and action, being barely seconds ahead of them. The trio had ambushed several foreign militants.

The Marcos, officially called the Indian Marine Special Force, were raised in the 1980s out of naval divers to lead amphibious operations and clear beaches for the main body of troops. Being divers they could reach hostile shores swimming underwater. They could sabotage enemy vessels and harbour installations. These diving commandos were deployed in Kashmir for militants were using water bodies such as lakes, rivers and ravines to take cover. Soon they became famous as ``dareewali fauj [bearded force]'' among the militants.

``If civilians see us they would surely mistake us for militants for we look like them but militants would know who we are. If they spot us from a distance, they fire but if spotted nearby they try to run away and that is the time we go for a kill,'' Petty Officer Ram Mehar told The Hindu .

With the support of his buddy, Ram Mehar had `eliminated' two operatives of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. He was a few seconds ahead of the Pakistani irregulars.

The Marine Commandos usually operate with a small team to launch a covert operation. The petty officer was one of just nine Marcos who had laid multiple ambushes over a distance of two km.

``We do not leave behind the dead militants but carry the bodies to the nearest police station,'' he said.

Other Marcos who were honoured were sailors Anoop Singh and Amarjeet. Admiral Mehta also conferred Nao Sena Medal (Gallantry) on diver Ajay Kumar and Petty Officer Ravinder Kumar for recovering explosive-laden containers from the cold waters off Mumbai in zero visibility to save the environment.

Captain Rama Kant Pattanaik, commanding officer of destroyer INS Mumbai got Yudh Seva Medal for what his citation called, ``implementing flawless combat readiness procedure and simultaneously introducing a unique organisation for safe evacuation of stranded Indian nationals in the war zone of Beirut.''

`Not bigger but smarter'

Thirtyfour warships, including new submarines, are under construction in different Indian shipyards and the Navy is

planning to order 40 more vessels.

"We are not going to be much bigger but a little smarter,'' Admiral Mehta said.

Talking to reporters here on Tuesday after the naval investiture ceremony, he said the modern Navy was not measured by the number of ships but its capability.

Admiral Mehta said the ship-building programme was the result of a 15-year long-term integrated plan. All major shipyards such as Mazagon, Kolkata and Goa had their hands full with orders and Kochi would take up the second aircraft carrier after it finished the first.

He said the Navy was facing asymmetric threats. Protecting national assets such as offshore oil installations was particularly challenging.

"These assets are fully protected now but we have to build forces to respond to threats from small boats."

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