The US Army has shown a keen interest in sending its select troops to train at a specialised high altitude training school established by the Indian Army along the Indo-China border in the Arunachal Pradesh sector. The school, established in late 1999, has earned a reputation for imparting the best possible high altitude commando training in the short span of its existence. It is a place where only the toughest can survive. At minus 20 degrees and 15,000 feet, the normal parameters of human existence are altered drastically. Each step is deliberate and laborious.
Breathing is an exercise in itself.
And yet, at the Parvat Ghatak School or the High Altitude Commando School, located at Pemgarh, barely two km from the Indo-China border as the crow flies, troops of the Indian Army train themselves to be ready for any eventuality in these deadly heights. Those who come here are trained in both the commando tactics and ways to survive high altitudes. Indeed, the platoon strength of troops which train at the Parvat Ghatak, which literally translates into 'Deadly mountain Warriors', are handpicked before being sent to Pemgarh. The composition of the platoon is one officer, a junior commissioned officer and 26 other ranks. Each platoon has to undergo a four-week training capsule specially designed to toughen the troops and prepare them to take on the most challenging assignments.