Sky is the Limit

A REVIEW OF THE BOOK- SKY IS THE LIMIT By Maj Gen Yashwant Deva
The book gives an excellent account of the problems, planning and execution of Signal Communications from the time IPKF was ordered to move into Sri Lanka till the de-induction of IPKF. It gives a vivid description of the heroic deeds of the Signals personnel during IPKF operations. The biggest asset of this book is that it has been authored by a person who was personally there, at the helm of affairs of Signals Communications, through out OP PAWAN (the IPKF operations in Sri Lanka).
Many reviews of this book have appeared in various journals and magazines by many learned persons. In each of those reviews the book ‘SKY IS THE LIMIT’, has been graded as an outstanding contribution by Yashwant Deva.

Then why this one more review? The answer is simple– after having read this book I as a Veteran Signaller feel that every Signaller must read this book at least once. There is no better medium than “THE SIGNALMAN” to convey this message to you all.
If you love the profession of Signalling and you wish to further improve your professional ability, this book is not only a ‘must read’ for you, you must possess a copy of it and read it again and again in your leisure time. Do look for an occasion to meet the personnel and their families, who took part in OP PAWAN, and congratulate them for their “unique” performance. You will feel still more proud of the Corps you are serving, when you meet those brave and highly proficient Signallers.

Remarks from some of the senior officers on this book are as under –
Gen JJ Singh, COAS –
.....“an outstanding work” …
Lt Gen Harbhajan Singh, Former SO-in-C –
.....“unique”. .....“No Signal officer in the World has so far written such a book on Communications in any operation and nor any one will write.”
Remarks of Lt Gen Depinder Singh, Army Commander Southern Command, along with his autographs on Maj Gen Deva’s copy of the book –
“With deep gratitude for vindicating performance of the IPKF and showing courage of conviction calling a spade a spade.”
Some additional quotations from Gen Depinder Singh as extracted from the “FOREWORD” of the book –
.....“it is the calibre of the man, which tilts the balance to achieve victory out of the chaos that is war”.....
.....“ Maj Gen Deva has performed an admirable service by penning down this account, which even the last reader will find eminently readable, evocative and educative. Thank you Yashwant, finally, for providing this old man, in the evening of his life, an opportunity to yet again relive the momentous days of Operation Pawan.”
Lt Gen Sree Kumar, Former SO-in-C,
.....“showcases the Corps”
Lt Gen JK Mohanty,Commandant Army War College,
.....“the book is being given a pride of place in the library of the War College and a review is being published in the War College Journal”.
The book sets an excellent example as to how to start with the process of ‘Signal Planning’ and how to achieve final success in establishing Signal communications, to the entire satisfaction of the field commanders and higher headquarters - much beyond their expectations. The book takes the reader through following steps, which all good Signals officers must learn and practice:

Receipt of a warning order for a military operation.

Initial appreciation of the communication requirements, including the requirements of the Navy, Air force and other services.

Preliminary planning, reconnaissance, initial coordination with other services, including civil services. Assessment of available resources, including those available in the forward area.

Assessing the EW capabilities of the enemy.

Assessment of additional resources required to meet the commander’s operational plans and needs of higher headquarters.

Approaching the appropriate agencies for additional resources and assessing the reliability of promises made for provisioning those resources.

Deciding on the broad communication policy.

Making the broad plan followed by detailed plan of signal communications.

Planning physical security of personnel, equipment and communication circuits, communication security during move, at destination and subsequent moves.

Planning induction of Signal units and additional equipment into the operational area.

Issuing detailed orders down to each Signal unit.

Executing and monitoring the move of Signal units and additional resources.

Executing and monitoring the execution of the Signal communication plans down to unit and subunit levels.

Bargaining in the field with other services to muster additional resources in exchange of communication they need and do not have.

Re-assessing the ground situation and making changes to communication plans and physical security of Signal detachments and signal security, where necessary.

Constant liaison with the commanders at all levels to keep abreast with the operational situation and catering for additional communications before the commander asks for it.

Welfare of all ranks and recommending for decoration and awards where deserving.
Some quotes from the book, with which you will fully agree after you finish reading the book are:
.....“ It anticipated the shape of the things to come and set a paradigm shift to newer forms of warfare, viz., from hierarchical to network strategies and grid structures.”.....
.....“ Operation Pawan set the tune and the trend for abundance of communications built with Herculean effort and high ingenuity – circuit by circuit, link by link, network by network, provoking flattening of the command hierarchies, dynamically meeting demands of daily grouping and regrouping, and above all creating highly objective and unadulterated system of hard and actionable intelligence. The merit of the system lay in its availability to the commander right where and when he needed it;.....”
......“This book aims at: firstly, to give a balanced account of the events; secondly, and attempt to analyse the pluses and minuses; thirdly, to make policy recommendations to fight wars of the 21st century, which are asymmetric and distinctive in winning by means other than hard-kill, viz., info, cyber, cognitive, memetic, robotic and nanotech wars in which communications, computing and artificial intelligence would have a role of primacy; and lastly, the most important, it is a tribute to 1,135 plus martyrs of Operation Pawan, 16 (more likely 18) of them from the Corps of Signals, to whom this country owes the integrity and freedom.”
In my opinion this book should be cosidered for being used as a text book for selected courses in MCTE. The Signals Branch at every formation headquarters should have this book as a reference book. The Signals Training Centres, every major SIGNAL unit, including the EW and SI units, should have sufficient number of copies of this book in their central libraries; a copy of the book should be available down to company or equivalent levels. At unit level it may be worth considering to encourage PBOR to read this book. They will feel very proud of the achievements of the Corps of Signals and get motivated to perform still better.

For obtaining copies of the book please contact– Maj Gen Yashwant Deva, Email ID - yashwant.aved@gmail.com (to email replace aved with deva)
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