Three Days With Marine Commandos

I spent the first few days of this week sailing with and filming an Indian Navy Marine Commandos (MARCOS) unit for a report on special and amphibious naval operations for my channel, Headlines Today. This is the closest I've ever gotten to the MARCOS. I spent three days talking to the commandos (all strictly off the record, of course) and getting real insights into their training, tactics and doctrines. It is with their permission that I've put these photographs up.

It was truly a privilege sitting on the sun-dappled beach of Rutland Island, across the Macpherson Strait from the rest of the Andaman Islands, and exchanging stories with these men -- the MARCOS team I shot with was represented from all across the country -- from Orissa, Haryana, Punjab, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. It was surreal listening to the amazing stories of survival training, a large part of special operations training. And listening to what they thought of 26/11, Operation Neptune Spear, the SEALs and other operations.

My special thanks to MARCOS officer Lieutenant 'Sierra' for being so open about his men, and to the magarmachh unit at Rutland for welcoming an intrusive journalist with lots of questions. Godspeed and Shano Varuna, though I know you operate in the other two dimensions as well :)

Photos / Shiv Aroor

(Tomorrow: Photos and an account of an amphibious exercise at Rutland)

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