The Siachen glacier is a body of snow and ice, perched atop the Himalayas at a height averaging 21,000 ft. The highest point on the glacier is at around 22,000 ft, and the lowest point at around 19,000 ft, so u can imagine how vast a snowy terrain it is. Both India and Pakistan have a partial hold on the highest spot, and at a height of around 22,000 ft, its rightfully dubbed as the highest battlefield on earth.
The administrative procedures for being at Siachen widely differ from the practical ones, cause they are simply not compatible.
There are two ways of ending up in Siachen. One is thru a departmental transfer, and the other thru volunteering. A departmental transfer will put you there for a maximum of 2 yrs, and a volunteer posting can be for as little as 3 months, and as much as one year. Most volunteers are placed there for an average of 6 months. Before heading to Siachen, all soldiers have to undergo a mountain warfare course, which is conducted in the northern areas of Pakistan, in the vicinity of Abbottabad, a place rich in mountains. Pakistan’s mountain warfare school is perhaps the toughest and the best in the world, with students from the US and British army routinely coming in for training. Pakistan army usually encourages those people to join such courses who have grown up in the mountain areas, and are used to the climate and rigors. However, anyone who can put up with the tests is welcomed into it. The training and acclimatization can range from a few days to a couple of months, depending on how long a soldier is going up there for.
There is no way of transporting soldiers to the top of the glacier other than by walking up. On average, it takes 5 to 7 days for a soldier to climb up the 20,000+ feet. Helicopters are not very functional at such heights, and hence cant really be used to drop anyone off. They are only used to drop off food and supplies for the soldiers, since if a helicopter comes to a stop at that height, it wont be able to lift off owing to the thin air. Hence all soldiers take the time to walk up the moutain, enduring a grueling 7 day hike. According to doctors orders, all soldiers are mandated to climb down every 22 days, for a week, in order to reverse the effects of any frostbite that might start kicking in. But this being a drag, less than 5% of the soldiers adhere to this order.
The clothing used by soldiers is custom made, and costs more than Rs.200,000 per soldier. The clothing includes insulated overalls, vacuum filled shoes, separate specialty gloves meant to handle weapons, special sun goggles designed to ward off white outs and sun glare, and any number of sweaters knitted by amijaan and nani ammiJ.
The food delivered to the soldiers is tinned, designed to be eaten when cold, cause trying to get something to warm up at that height at a temperature of minus 40 is not exactly a picnic. Like my brother used to say, whenever he talked to someone, the words would freeze in midair, and the other person would have to heat them on a stove before listening to them. Frost bite is a very very common phenomenon for soldiers up there, and most of the time it happens because of their unwillingness to climb down every now and then for acclimatization. And the worst part being, that most cases of frostbite are irreversible, effectively disabling certain digits on hands and feet, or other sensitive parts, as ears and nose.
Weapons are heated in boiling water on a regular basis, in order to keep them in working conditions. The residential quarters are of two types. One is a tent made of thick tarpaulin, which can house several soldiers at a time, and is used for storage of weapons as well. The other is an igloo made of shamrock fiber, which is only meant for sleeping, cause all u can do is slide in and lay down. There is no standing room in them.
Common population exists on the mountains till as high as 15,000 ft…and in some cases, even higher. People live by eating fruits that grow at that height, mostly berries and apples, and herd mountain sheep. Not a worry in the world for them. C’est la vie.
I have personally lost a couple of friends on Siachen in the line of duty…..one while crossing a crevasse, and another by gunfire. Sitting down on the plains, its routine for us to make judgments on what a useless issue this is, and how our country is wasting time and money on a place where no grass grows at all. But tell that to a soldier, and he’d tell you how happy he would be to lay down his life while defending that very grassless land. Keeping in spirit with the Independence Day, lets all pray for all our soldiers fighting for us on any front, for all soldiers who have fought for us in the past, and those who are training to fight for us in the future. Say what u want about Pakistan, but like it or not, its still our country, and if we cant personally do anything for our country, we can at least appreciate the people who are doing something.
PS. mods..didnt want it getting lost in the general section, so i moved it here. Kindly delete the duplicate from the General section.
[This message has been edited by Akif (edited August 12, 2000).]