War Games: India to Host for the First Time Army Scout Masters Competition in Jaisalmer

Designed to promote cooperation, collaboration, and team spirit among the contestants and facilitate sharing of best practices, technology and hardware, the 5th edition of “Army Scout Masters Competition” is scheduled to be held in Jaisalmer City later this year. This is the first time that India is the venue for the Army Scouts Masters Competition, which is part of International Army Games steered by Russia.

Scheduled for the end of July to mid-August is going to be in five stages which will test the marksmanship, navigation skills, endurance and teamwork amongst the teams under an international panel of judges, experts and arbiters. These will be held by day and at night, where twenty-seven representatives from countries besides India, Russia, China, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Sudan, Kazakhstan, Zimbabwe, and Belarus will be participating.

The Army Scout Masters Competition is conducted under the established format of competition amongst Scouts and offers unique challenges and opportunities keeping in mind the spirit of adventure, courage, comradeship and the true spirit of the Army Games.

The main aim of this completion is to enhance international military to military and technical co-operation between the States participating in the Scout Masters Competition.

According to a senior army officer, a scout must be flexible, able to adapt to any climatic conditions and be ready to perform in different terrains including desert areas. So far the International scout competitions have been taking place for four consecutive years at the Koltsovo training ground in Novosibirsk Region.

What is the International Army Games?

Since 2015, Russia has been holding International Army Games which involves around 30 countries who battle out in dozens of competitions spread over two weeks to prove which has the best military in the world. Countries send in their troops in the sports version of warfare on land, air, and sea.

Spread over a fortnight which includes tank biathlon and fighter planes maneuvering contest. From the time the games started, India has been participating in the Army Games. In July 2018, the Indian Army had participated in two competitions in the International Army games in Russia. These were in the Tank Biathlon and Elbrus Ring — which is mountain warfare combat patrol competition.

Source: FE

Image Courtesy:Russian Defence Ministry