Queen of the Battle - Pakistan Army Infantry Corps

Infantry is called the queen of the battle. The infantry is based on the foot soldiers or ground troops.  Without infantry, the war cannot be won. The history of infantry is as old as the war itself. The infantry was the first combat corps in the history of any army in the world.

All the armies in the world trained their infantrymen through different exercises. Same is true with the Pakistan’s Infantry.

There are two types of infantry in the Pakistan army. One is light infantry and the other is heavy infantry. The light infantry is equipped with the light weapons such as light machine guns, Ak-47, MP5 while the heavy infantry is equipped with the armored vehicles like APCs. The heavy infantry is also called mechanized infantry.

The mechanized infantry is discussed completely at the end of this article.

Why Pak Army Infantry is Best

Though the Pakistan army infantrymen like other army infantries of the world are trained for the wars through the different mock exercises but Pak army infantry goes beyond these mock exercise and fight in the real wars. This made the Pak army unique and better from many infantries of the world due to the following reasons.

1. All Terrain Warriors

The Pakistan army is all terrain warrior. The reason is that the Pakistan army is operating in all the hard terrains of the North-West Pakistan from the past 15 years and now it is fully war trained in the high mountainous areas.

Pak army was already the champion of winning the wars in the semi-hilly and desert areas of the Pakistan against its enemy India. But in the wars against terrorism from the past 15 years, it is now the master of winning the wars in the mountainous areas.

The North-West terrain of the Pakistan is same as that of the Afghanistan. Even the American and the Russian armies have failed to get the required results in such terrains of the Afghanistan. But Pakistan army made it possible.

2. 100% Output

Unlike military exercises, where soldiers are fully confident that they will not get any injuries and causalities but in real wars against terrorism, soldiers not only make long range battles but also get close quarter battles with the enemies which made them more advanced with the both respects of the war.

Moreover, the wars against terrorism made the Pakistan SSG as the No.1 Special force of the world due to their courageous performance in the hard and mountainous terrains of the North-West area of the Pakistan. The corps of infantry of the Pakistan army has an elite force which is called the Special Service Group, SSG.  

Training of Infantry

The cadets of Pakistan military academy are inducted into infantry corps after the passing out parade. The induction of cadets is purely on the basis of merit. And the merit is based on the basis of performance and skills.

These young second lieutenants then go the prestigious School of Infantry and Tactics, Quetta. The life of the Pakistani army infantry officer starts from this school.

As far concerned with the military training of the infantrymen, Pakistan army stresses on the physical training of all the soldiers. For this purpose, the assault course is a must for every soldier. Then it comes to the training of military weapons. The gun of an infantryman is his best friend.

Different types of weapons like G3 and MP5 are in use of the Pakistan’s army infantry. The soldiers and officers also get the hand to hand combat training.

Pakistan Army Mechanized Infantry

The need for mechanized infantry was felt when the foot infantry faced huge causalities while moving towards the enemy area and in capturing the enemy territory.

The motorized vehicles also need plain and good paths to move but in small hilly and trench areas, these motorized vehicles are not able to move. So, there was a need for the track vehicles that could drive in the trench and hilly field areas.

Hence, the mechanized infantry was introduced to tackle these difficulties. It can withstand the small arms. The purpose of mechanized infantry is same like that of foot infantry i.e capturing and holding the enemy ground.

The mechanized infantry is totally trained like the foot infantry with the additional training. The additional training includes the use of weapons while sitting in the armored vehicle.

Mechanized Infantry Advantages

As the Armored corps tanks are made with the highly advanced armored materials, so it can lead the attack towards the enemy because it can withstand the high weapon resistance due to its structure. In this way, it gives the protection to the foot infantry from being hit by the heavy enemy fire.

But soon when the tanks entered in the enemy area, then there will be the need of the soldiers to capture and hold the enemy ground. Here comes the importance of the mechanized infantry.

As the foot infantry operates on the feet and is unable to reach the enemy area quickly like that of the tank, so for this purpose the mechanized infantry comes in action because they can join the armored corps tanks in the enemy area with the speed while sitting in their armored vehicles and thus can capture the ground.

Armor Personnel Carriers, APCs

APC stands for armor personnel carriers. Different types of armored vehicles are used in the Pakistan army for the mechanized infantry. Pakistan army is using APC M-113p and APC M-113p A2 extensively for the mechanized infantry.

Some APCs like APC M-113p A2 are also installed with the Baktar-Shikan anti-tank guided missiles along with anti-aircraft machine gun.

Some regiments of the Pakistan army like 27 Baloch regiment and 228 independent Azad Kashmir heavy anti-tank are equipped with the deadly APC M-113p A2.

APCs Operation

The vehicle commander is usually a major in the Pakistan army. The commander stands in the centre-top of the vehicle while the section (10-12) of his soldiers sits in the vehicle. The commander is also the gunner of the vehicle. He usually targets the helicopters with its anti-aircraft machine gun weapon mounted on the top of the vehicle.

The signal officer of the vehicle can also coordinate with the signal officer of the other vehicle through the company radio in the vehicle for the purpose of deployment and exchange of information. He can also contact with the battalion commander through second radio installed with the first radio.

The commander of the vehicle can also coordinate with the driver and commander of other vehicles with the specially mounted helmet which he wears while the vehicle moves.

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