BACKGROUND1. “A military force, akin to law and medicine, is one of those professions where the congruence of qualification, ideas and organization is necessary to it’s function, its core profession cannot be practiced outside its organizational realm”.1 A good lawyer has to practice in court and a good doctor in hospital; similarly what men in uniform learn within the organization cannot be either practiced or compared with any function or job in the civil world. The job and working atmosphere in organizations external to Navy is a contractual relationship based on market-place values as opposed to interpersonal relationship and human values. 2 A career in Navy is primarily a function of this interpersonal relationship, hence projection and practice of organizational goals based on nobler values will inspire men to join, serve and if need be, give up their lives as ultimate sacrifice. Here lies the personnel challenge for the Indian Navy of 2020; to provide and police the ambient working atmosphere, where alignment and congruence exists between, the dreams projected to aspiring candidate joining Navy, the values professed to us seamen in service and finally what Indian Navy promises to protect strategically for the nation.
AIM
2. The essay penned herein will meander through the issue of personnel challenges before Indian Navy by first rebutting certain myths about manpower, then identifying immeasurable changes in environment and lastly introspecting over the imperative challenges to Navy’s human resource management.
MYTHS
3. The organizational blind-spots for us, wearing nelson rings on our shoulders, have given rise to myths regarding the current manpower crisis in Navy. These two myths can be described as:
(a)
Candidates with OLQ an Extinct Breed. It has become rare that alumni of elite educational institutions join the forces. Cases where generations of the same family served in the forces are fast dying out, and even children of the serving personnel now prefer avenues in the commercial world. Those entering the forces are increasingly from the smaller towns and even moffussil areas of the country. Do the forces really need to grieve over the loss of the elite feeding grounds? Does it really need to bemoan the ‘degradation’ of the ‘input-material’ that now walks its corridors? Perhaps a similar sentiment prevailed when Indians were first raised from the ranks to the officers, which was until then the preserve of the British. The British Officers of that time, did not think Indian officers could ever equal them in terms of professionalism just because of the chasm in refinement and etiquette. Today, similar is the concern in respect of fresh crop of officers that do not have ‘Public School’ credentials. Time bears testimony that apprehensions such as these do surface whenever there is shift in the social grain of organizations. Essentially, the use of westernized manners as a datum to benchmark officer-like qualities in communication skills, manners and mannerisms causes much of this anguish. Why do we forget that Indian hinterland-educated folks too have their ethnic milieu to express ‘Sharafaat , Ijzaat aur Tehzeeb’ which does not lack OLQ? For comparison, the French forces from Napoleon era onwards and the US armed forces from the time of war of independence were made up of commoners and foot soldiers graduating to officer rank. It was only in the case of the Russian and British model of armed forces, which comprised 80% of politically un-ambitious and loyal autocracy.3 It is time to realize that since the Navy no longer has the luxury of being fed ‘pre-fabricated material’ in terms of western mannerisms, Navy has to change the prism through which it sees people, it will find a larger number of eligible contenders in the huge pool of aspiring candidates e.g:-About 3.4 lac candidates apply for NDA exam every year.4
(b)
Patriotism a Dying Cause in India. Through ages, leadership and motivation surmount patriotic jingoism. What else will explain the presence of Gurkha troops in British and Indian armed forces or for that matter the present trend of first generation Indian immigrant diaspora serving in NATO forces? It is leadership based on core values that keeps alive a sense of purpose in men. Such leadership is a function of bonding in relationship and not of the organization’s allegiance. To cite an example, the British armed forces, first recruited men from the same soil as the Indian rulers/ kings. But a mere handful of these troops owing allegiance to the Queen out-maneuvered the local kings, why? Again prior to the two World Wars the shift from the British officer corps to Indian gentry was effected due to acts of valour by the first generation Indian officers.3 Was it not leadership, a fine case of military leadership at its scintillating best that motivated men to drive past there inborn nationalistic fervor? A vibrant Navy with inspiring leadership at helm will always attract able bodied men. We do not need to feed the sweet pill of patriotism to our youth to join the Navy.
IMMEASURABLE CHANGES4. “The highly hierarchical system of the armed forces makes it prone to organizational obsolescence leading to an inability to cope with change”.5 But the Navy of today has to grapple with the throes of change in India today. The effect of these imponderable changes should be identified and acknowledged rather that denied and refuted. Navy has to learn to live with these changes discussed below:
(a)
Change in Social Fabric. Socially speaking, the feudal background of the earlier corps of men has long since given way to middle class gentry from nuclear families in defense service. The foundation of pre-independence India’s armed forces came from landed families with sound financial and social standing. They joined the military service for status and social mobility.3 This is no longer true for the cadre of the 21 century for whom Navy is a proud profession. The stabilizing influence of parental backing and support factor provided by homemaker spouse cannot be taken for granted in today’s double income aspiring family. In case of a domestic mishap/ marital disharmony, the old-time village/family support system is not there to support domestic affairs whilst the men in uniform are at sea. We have to realise that the nation, outside the gamut of defense services, is devoid of a’ social security safety net’. The lack of a conducive environment that can take care for a nuclear family/ lone elders of men away from home, is a strong de-motivator and stumbling block for the expeditionary Armada we in Navy plan to pursue. Secondly since the Navy recruits and grooms eligible men as officer and sailors, by the same corollary, it is natural that these young men will get betrothed to eligible women of equal caliber. The individual aspirations of a naval personnel’s spouse, weans the officer away from active duty/ frequent transfers for the sake of domestic stability and assured additional income. The organization loses a willing soldier and gains a whining individual in such cases.
(b)
Change in Cultural Mores. The working class today has broken out of the mindset of joining one organization and then retiring from the same with pension. The trend of officer seeking new jobs and career-changes is not because of de-motivating factors in Navy. People simply want to exercise the option of a career switch which is no longer a mind block. This premature attrition is fait-accompli and has to be built into manpower planning. It need not be viewed with angst by the personnel branch. Rather, the impression that an officer will not be allowed to leave prematurely at any cost, is frightening graduates from joining Navy and those in short service now think twice before seeking further extension. The sailor, on the other hand, is looking for social relevance and equity in the power structure at work place. The educated rural youth who joins the Navy is a product of liberalized India who has never sat with his hands folded in front of the village Panchayat like his forefathers. He carries silent disdain for the ‘Parent ego to Child ego’ manner of communication between officer and sailor in the Divisional System. The prized divisional system of our Navy has to take cognizance of the evolved sensibilities of the new breed of sailors whilst dealing with his HR issues.
(c)
Change in Economic Stature of India. India as a nation is juxtaposed in a very unique economic position, when seen from the armed forces’ perspective. Our present pace of above 9% per annum growth in GDP, has spearheaded India into the power corridors of the world. We have an economy that is fourth largest in Gross Domestic Product and incurs the fourth biggest defense expenditure in the world. At other end of the spectrum, we have plummeted to the bottom of the development pyramid. A ranking of 128 for Per Capita Income and 118 for world Human Development Index is a reflection about sorry state of affair for the individual well-being in Indian society. So this gap, between what the nation pays as a price for sovereignty in defense expenditure, and what it can afford to pay it’s ‘men in uniform’ due to poverty within the nation, is a reality that has to be grasped. The flogging of the old ‘Pay Commissions’ horse, expecting a magic wand that will keep continuous parity for service personnel with the private sector, is a fight for a lost cause. In a nation where only 8.7 million people work in the organised private sector and 23.7 million still work in public sector. Our core focus should be, on projecting Navy as a first-choice for job and career retention, vis-à-vis the Public Sector Navratnas, on the strength of better quality of life within Navy. Navy is running in a losing race, with the private corporate companies on the subject of salary.
IMPERATIVE CHALLENGE
5. The imperative personnel challenges, which the Navy has to cope with, consist of those that are competitive in their form and others that are hostile in nature. They are all present across three domains which even over lap with each other i.e:- Firstly, the challenges within Navy, secondly, those related to the nations’ geo-polity and finally the ones with global perspective or ramifications. The succeeding paragraphs elucidate these challenges we have to brave:
(a)
Hunt for Talent. The Navy fundamentally requires ‘capable’ men to pursue its strategic goals the outdoor-types who are looking for adventure and challenge, who can work to the point of supreme sacrifice just for a ribbon on the chest or meager pension.3 To seek these men out, the Navy needs to be visible to all sections of society to keep itself alive in the aspirations of the youth today.
(i)
Image Building Exercise. The visibility of Navy comes from the media. However, unlike the American concept of military-media relationship, Indian armed forces have kept the media away as a ‘holy heritage’ of British India tradition.6 Apart from occasional pre-SSB advertisements in the papers, youth get to see little exposure to Navy in their every day life. The live telecast of the Republic Day and Independence Day functions is where the buck stops. Worse still, the occasions on which defense forces do find mention in the headlines are when there are allegations of embezzlement, misuse of power, wrong deals or the like. Perhaps, it was only during the Kargil war that some of the pre-Independence patriotic fervor returned perceptibly in the media. Media should be used as a force multiplier. Today, media is largely focused on political or industry-related or social issues. The armed forces seem to find no place here. Furthermore, at those forums where intelligentsia discuss issues of security concerns and conflict management, the filters of the media in terms of elite ownership, elite ideology, elite funding, do not allow the armed forces to reach the nation at grass-root level through mainstream journalism or vernacular media.6 Effectively today, the urban public reads negative stories and vernacular does not get to read any thing at all. It is therefore a challenge for those in the echelons of power in Navy to turn over a favorable image of the forces and ensure wider coverage in hinterland of our country where still 74% of non-urban India resides.
(ii)
Increase the Talent Pool for Selection. The idealism, energy and aspirations for better quality-of-life can be tapped, only when the Navy as a career option is receptive with as much flexibility, as any other profession. The changing matrix of the selection procedure adopted by institutions of repute outside the defense need to be studied and replicated in Navy too. Presently any person aspiring to be admitted into the Navy as a sailor or officer has to await the examinations held twice a year. Should a candidate then fail in his interview/ physical test, he has to re-appear for the written exam again for a second chance. Why? The Ivy league American system throught exams like GRE/GMAT, also allow candidates reappear for his interview/ personal screening, based on the merit of a valid previous score The validity of the qualifying score should be beyond the first attempt of screening stage. Further, the assessment model of using recognized state board/ university marks/ JEE or CAT score as basis to call directly for SSB/ MER interview, is the need of hour. This will offer a larger talent pool to select our eligible men straight for interview stage of selection. Lastly the present gestation period for selection, from the time of application to the point of entry in our academies is six months approximately. This needs to be pruned down to less than a month by aid of technology/ networking to have online enrolment, assessment and results. Today, good talent is a sellers market; it is unlikely that a capable young man would wait for six months to join his profession. If we in Navy feel that there is crisis of manpower then we have to out-do not only the civil industry, but the other two sister defense services also, by changing the rules of the game to our benefit.
(b)
Train for War. The dilution of ethos in training, with regard to developing an ‘attitude’ in military men, who must see themselves as professionals with outstanding social responsibility, rather than as members of one of the occupations reaping rewards,1 is a folly, that has to be weeded out from a our trainees’ young impressionable psyche. A war is dangerous and violent, men work and fight if they believe in what they are fighting for. The act of giving up one’s job for corporate cost effectiveness and the motivation to give up one’s life for nations’ war-fighting effectiveness are two different ball games. At sea, skills are not open to amateur intrusion; a professional at sea has to be more intrinsic to his surrounding environment which explains the need to train the manpower with right attitude. Internal training within the Navy at the schools and academies are responsible for grooming raw talent, in business of war without getting distracted by corporate-management jargons in vogue. We, as trainers and mentors, cannot absolve ourselves from indoctrinating our subordinates at every occasion and level, with the argument that quality input of new generation has fallen. “The determinants of the success of an organization are nature of product and the circumstances of product distribution. The military objective is not actually to deliver the goods but to retain them in such an impressive inventory that the competitor, in this case the enemy, will decline the competition”. 1 This act of deterrence is a personnel function hinged predominantly on continuous and ongoing process of training honed over years.
(c)
Educate for Life. The services makes a man an officer overnight when he passes out from the portals of his alma-matar, but to evolve as a gentleman/ leader, is a painstaking life long journey. “Unfortunately forward-looking discussions and debates based on lessons drawn from the past and current military affairs are an exception rather than the rule. Few if any institution exists, beyond the official teaching task. Compare this with, say the US, where even the youngest officers are encouraged to write and publish regularly”.7 Training and education are two different things. When we only ‘train’ our men, we are justifying the adage that ‘Military prepare for the last war’. Training is designed to impart skills, as well as psychological reaction, to situations which develop in foreseeable crises. Education on the other hand produces a more thoughtful and deliberate reaction to situations, particularly to unforeseen conditions.2 The Navy’s educational system has to throw up thinking officers. Across three defense services, the quality of military advice at the top level, is tested by and compared with the views of external experts from the legislative or executive arm of the government. But in areas of office corps at lower level formation and administration, it is more difficult to obtain informed and objective outside opinion. But, finally the quality of the ideas of the Flag officer is merely the bloom on the tree of professional thinking, a tree rooted in the officer corps at fleet level.1 Hence, one would expect, professionalism at all levels, depends ultimately on the ethos of the corps of men and its ability as a vocation to retain and groom people with intellectual vigor. Junior personnel, at fleet and dockyard level, have to be encouraged to cross train and interact with eminent non-government organizations and intellectual institutes of repute outside the defense industry.
(d) Safeguard against Bureaucratic Quagmire. The world external to the military, has evolved in it’s sensibilities regarding dignity of labour at work place and of colleagues at place of rest. The mantra of lean manning cannot be practiced if the glass ceiling of branch divide continues to exist, and the mindset to ‘roll up ones sleeve and dirty-hands’, literally as well as figuratively, is not practiced in a top-down approach. The so-called inferiority of armed forces in terms of ability, aptitude and attitude has been conveniently attributed to inherently inferior talent that discourages intellectual initiative and infrequent opportunity to apply and upgrade skill.8 “When spit and polish are laid on so heavily, that they become onerous and the ranks cannot see any legitimate connection, between the requirement and the development of an attitude, that will serve a clear fighting purpose, it is to be questioned, whether the exercise would serve any good objective what so ever”. 9 The key areas to focus on work environment are:
(i)
Efficiency at Work. How can the right to continue in service and contribute to the inefficiency of the organization be upheld? Any premature retirement is accepted by those who are efficient performers. No inefficient person will ever utilize premature retirement scheme. The biggest attraction of the job, job-security in service, is also the biggest bane. It is not that there are no disciplinary rules, there are, and are certainly more codified than the private sector. But every inefficient person knows that it takes long time for the system to catch up with him.10 Abraham Maslow has rightly concluded that a satisfied need ceases to be a motivator of behavior. It is perhaps realistic to say that the best in Navy are better than the best in private sector, but there numbers are few.
(ii)
Maintaining Professionalism in Peace Time. The prolonged absence of war on large scale calls for technicalities of war to be debated and tested in all possible ways. Armed forces are the laboratory and classroom for the organization theory and management, which needs to be tested and revalidated. “Constant competition in the commercial market place kills organizations that cannot cope with the change and this weeding out is more frequent than the infrequent wars which weed out incompetent military leaders”.5
(e)
Transparency in HR Practices. A key driving factor that makes a person give the prime age of their youth to Navy, is admiration of our supposed impartial, transparent and fair, working environment. “The ideology, that disruption of the system does more harm than the suffering of the individual, can prevail only if accompanied by transparency and swift decision making”. 8 The mindset for intrinsic freedom and empowerment is growing in the vibrant and practicing democracy of our great nation. The issues in Indian Navy related to service conditions, promotions, participation of women in work force, selection process for prized courses, appointments and award need to be made fully transparent and above-board. The adage - ‘Justice not only needs to be done, it should be perceived and seen to be done also’ holds true. To take the argument further, we not only need to disseminate information regarding criteria for judging excellence wherein deserving personnel have got the carrot, but also publicize the cases of un-soldierly and incompetent performance, when erring individuals were given the stick. The personnel branch has to become as perfect, transparent, and impartial in it’s dealing, as a priest at a confession box. If Navy fails to get its act together on the issue of transparency, it is only question of time before constitutional authority like Right to Information Act, Central Vigilance Act, Human Rights Commission, National Commission for Women and the newly formed Armed Forces Tribunal come knocking at our doorstep.
(f)
Costing of Manpower. The increased trend of economic prudence in the nation, even in matters of defense, puts our efficiency in deploying our manpower, under the looking glass. It is important to differentiate between lean manning, multi-tasking and efficient deployment of available manpower resource. We have to reduce the strength of officers, increase the pool and responsibility of our sailors and take a deeper look at the ‘invisible’ work force of which very less is discussed and deliberated i.e:- the ‘Defense Civilian Employees’. The man in uniform needs to be moved out of all non-military, activities of housekeeping, administration, logistic support and training. The ratio of Short Service Personnel to pensionable service personnel has to increase, for the sake of reduced costing as well as to retain a younger age-profile of the force. The cost of training and pay to our men should be commensurate to the work or strategic mileage the nation gets from us, at tax payers’ expense. If Navy’s ordnance and equipment has to get higher resource allocation and concurrently we desire to reward our men with higher pay, the tail to teeth proportion of our manpower structure has to improve further.
(g)
Shifting Sands in Global Scenarios. The Navy’s biggest personnel challenge is external and hostile, it lies in the field of the rapidly changing world scenario. At one end of the horizon is the new demand for skilled men, capable of handling, maintaining and executing Network Centric Operations in a Knowledge Based Economy. On the other end of the horizon we still require men with brute physical skills who can ‘look into the white of the enemy’s eye’ and defend the nation against Non State Actors with violent intent. The second major issue is the ability of Indian Navy to cope and adapt with the rapid pace of India’s economic growth where the percentage share of sea trade will continue to grow in our GDP. Navy has to deal with two pronged task at hand: one is ability to met the deployment/ tasking beyond our EEZ where the sovereign and economic interest of India now lie, in terms of Economic assets and Diaspora population. Concurrently the men of our fleet have to develop skills in joint man-ship at Ministry of defense level and statesmanship/diplomacy at international level. These soft skill development, synergized with ability to deal and harness media at point of contact or event is critical to the Navy of tomorrow. Remember, “Conflict is adrenaline of media and journalists are trained to look for disagreement”.6 Trained men capable of interaction with journalism at point of occurrence of the event, rather than in a sterile conference room with doctored press brief will give us more mileage and sound bite space on the map of media. The case of Al-Jazeera / Arab networks being a potent propaganda weapon in hand of Al-Qaida, to which the well oiled and gigantic American broadcast media was a mute spectator, is an apt example. To cater and deal for these changes in nature of adversary, the command and training pattern has to undergo phase and mind shift. The end result of all our personnel efforts will only follow the trajectory of where the money and promotion occurs within the Navy, everything else is mere lip service.
SUMMARY
6. “Military character is directly derived from the national character. The honing hammering and shaping are relevant only in giving a distinct suitability to the service. But the sustaining source is the trait of the people of the nation”.11 If we take the empirical equation that Society input x Military input x Individual’s input = Quality of manpower. Then we should be bullish about the future of our Navy, due to growth occurring in society, Navy and the individual talent of the country. Personnel branch has to pause, think and reduce our reliance on the old trodden HR tools of; improving compensation, raising retirement age and enhancing promotion prospects, this approach is a Trojan horse to fatten and weaken the Navy from within.12 An out of box thinking will yield us better results by, tapping and tuning our efforts on Greenfield thrust area of:
(a)
Role of Veterans. The immense latent potential of ex navy alumni from short service commission officers, to veteran sailor and superseded officer need to be given equal standing and voice, there presently existing a glass ceiling within the Navy Foundation. These ex-Naval personal are our true brand ambassadors and nation builders, any sign of inequality in social standing leaves those men retiring without a ‘double braid on their peak cap’ with a bitter after taste. If organizations like IIM and IIT with mere two to four year of mutual association can cause such hype and social change in society, though everyone passing out of these institute does not invariably become a CEO. We need to ask our self, what is it that, we are doing wrong? Why does an ex-service man fails to acknowledge the parent organization that transitioned them from boys to men. The answer lies in increased social equality and inclusiveness and power sharing across board for sailors, SSC and superseded officers along with retired Admirals, in alumni activities of Navy Foundation.
(b)
Importance of Quality of life. The arrest in drop in quality of life in Navy has to be immediate, remember quality of life is a perishable commodity. If the defense services are supposed to give an individual specific personal time / space for self development and recreation, non-availing of these facility due to service exigency does not allow one to accrue the equivalent amount in hard cash. This makes the man in uniform feel short changed and cheated by the system. Maintaining a healthy balance between quantum of work, hours of work and the corresponding remuneration is what is called for. The impetus to sports and new generation adventure sport need to proliferate and reach all section of naval community. The trend of a coterie cornering and reaping the benefit of naval resources for self gain has to be watched for and nipped in the bud.
(c)
Adaptation to Social Changes. The concept of average man succeeding by superior education, organization and experience is an approach unique to defense services. This approach on the one hand subordinated the individual to the collective might and intelligence of the whole and yet guaranteed to the individual wide freedom of activity so long as he remained upon his proper level and within sphere of responsibility.8 The Navy has to mature further and acknowledge the role played by a vibrant and working democracy of the country and its influence on the military. The conflict between; Military obedience versus non military values and military obedience versus professional competence 8 should not be reacted with suspicion of mutinous behavior and seen as winds of change.
(d)
Mantra Of Accountability And Efficiency. “If war does not interrupt national life too seriously, the military is left to run its affair even if it is inconvenient and cost money. If war engages the whole nation it is different thing”. 1 Defense forces are no longer a holy cow whose action are unquestionable for the money spent from the exchequer. A lean force lead by a smaller proportion of officer is needed. The naval officers who will steer us to year 2020, should have command, rational method of thinking and working. Those who thinks in terms of models and alternatives and are in continuous touch with other relevant field and show a high degree of ability to learn. The implementation tasking has to shift to masterchief and petty officers born of this rising India. The concept of ‘shape up or ship out’,‘ either lead , follow or get out of the way’ has to be implemented ruthlessly even at the cost of attrition of unproductive manpower. The viscous brother-hood within officer corps in Navy cannot be at the cost of productivity of the Nation.
7. The prognosis can be summariesed by empathically stating that, “The hallmark of a professional military service is permanence, technical proficiency and service at the will of the nation.” 8The personnel challenge for Indian Navy of 2020 would be achieve the aforesaid by fostering a work force with Jihadi-Commitment and not Passive-Compliance.
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References:
1 . Management in the Armed Forces: An Anatomy of the Military Profession by JCT Downey, publisher McGraw Hill
2. How to be A Successful Leader by Padma Bhushan Lt Gen Dr ML Chibber PVSM, AVSM, Publisher Ava publishing house.
3. Whose Army is it any way by HS Sodhi, published by Kalam Dawaat Publishers
4. Trishakti Autumn term 2006 journal of NDA, address by Shri G Jagat IPS Chairman UPSC.
5. Managing Change by R Adm(Retd) KR Menon (Retd) CDM paper 1/2003
6. Military and Media by Dr Anil Kumar Singh, publisher Lancer publications
7. Defense Strategy in a Period of Change by Air Cmde (Retd) Jasjit Singh AVSM,VRC,VM CDM paper 1/2003
8. The Soldier and the State: The theory and Politics of Civil military relation by Samuel Huntington published by Natraj publishers.
9. The Officer as a Leader by General Marshal, published by Natraj publishers.
10. Motivating Bureaucracy by M Satya babu published by MacMillan India Ltd.
11. Military power by Lt Gen (Retd.)SC Sardeshpande UYSM,AVSM published in Indian DefenseReview Journal Apr-Jun 2007
12. Military Manpower: Managing Quality and Cost by Vice Adm(Retd.) V Koithara published in proceedings of International seminar on Defense Finance and Economics 13-15 Nov 06.
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Bibliography:
1. India Unbound from Independence to the Global information Age by Gurucharan Das published by Penguin.
2. Revolutionary Wealth by Alvin Toffler published byAlfred knopf.
4. Clash of Civilisation and Remaking of World Order by Samuel Huntington published by Penguin.
5. Proceedings of International Seminar on Defense Finance and Economics 13-15 Nov 06 at New Delhi.
6. Freedom to Use the Sea: India’s Maritime Military Strategy by IHQ MoD(N).
7. Human Resource Development Taskings: Strategic Guidance For Transformation by IHQ MoD(N)
8. Is Transparency in Naval HRD Desirable? Why and How? by Cdr N C Mamgain dissertation submitted for award of M.Sc.,(Defence And Strategic Studies) DSSC, Wellington, January 2007.
9. Website of http://www.wikipedia.com/ for statistical data on India
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