Jagadish C. Pokharel

Nepal government has given the go-ahead to the proposal of Nepali Army to switch its organisational structure from the division based to the operational command. As per the news details, it involves getting rid of the divisional structure and establishment of four commands with their geographical area of responsibility based upon three major river basins.
As a rule of thumb, this should be followed by a detailed redistribution and reorganisation of the existing resources, readjustment of the reporting procedures and may also entail redeployment of some units.
This could prove pivotal in the direction of transforming the Nepali Army into a more professional and mission- oriented force, and if implemented accordingly, can prove to be most consequential in addressing Nepal’s immediate and long-term national security needs. NA has long been struggling to find the right balance of forces and resources in terms of their geographical distribution while juggling between the need to prepare for its primary duties while being heavily involved in its secondary duties.
The current structure has come under serious criticism as insufficient, inflexible and cumbersome within the military academia for a while and a search for a new viable structure was always debated. In this context, the implementation of the new operational command structure is a welcome step that will not only move the Nepali Army towards a more mission-oriented but also ensure a robust and speedy response of military capability across the country to the full spectrum of military operations.
The current Eight Division structure was created as part of Nepali Army’s quest for rebalancing its force structure when the country moved from a unitary system to eight federal units. The administrative nature and the subsequent deployment pattern of these divisions were deemed problematic from the very beginning firstly because they followed political boundaries that were drawn based upon considerations that couldn’t and didn’t account for military concerns.
Secondly, the divisions as the highest fighting formation struggled to maintain a healthy balance of supporting capabilities and enablers. The current concept thus reorients the area of responsibilities of the commands keeping in mind what is known as the military logic thus ensuring adequate reach and justifiable area of responsibilities.
Thirdly, it places Brigades as the basic fighting formation, which are now relatively well supported by other arms and services allowing application of significant capabilities at all areas for all types of duties. This was much needed due to the perennial resource constraints.
The command structure also trims the current cumbersome chain of command and places the Brigades directly under the commands thus achieving a smooth chain of command between tactical and strategic command. The Army Headquarters now will have the time and energy to focus on issues of strategic nature while the commands will deal with the operational issues.
Although, we will have to wait and see how the entire implementation unfolds, the shift definitely is music to ears for all of us concerned about our national security. While I appreciate the army spokesperson’s modesty in stating that there will not be any extra expenditure for the government during this transition, I would rather expect the government to seize this opportunity by proactively supporting the Nepali Army’s endeavor in order to strengthen our national security.

(Pokharel is a retired Major General of NA.)