Photo By Staff Sgt. Tegan Kucera | Left to right: Sgt Sanjay Ghale, WO2 Chhabindra Limbu, Capt Jogendrasing Known for...... read more read more
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The Gurkhas are fighters from Nepal who compete for the right to enlist in the British Army.
“Our forefathers in the first and second world wars were really good fighters, and since then the Gurkhas have become famous in terms of fighting in all terrains like jungle and anywhere,” said Capt. Jogendrasing Limbu, who joined the Royal Gurkha Rifles in 1989.
Even though Jogendrasing and many other Gurkhas join the Royal Gurkha Rifles, they are not famous for the guns.
“We have the kukri a very special knife (18 inch curved blade), it’s a little weapon that our forefathers used during war to chop the enemy’s head off,” said Jogendrasing who retired from the Royal Gurkha Rifles in 2013.
He is known by Jogendrasing, because Nepal goes by the caste system and the area he comes from and not his surname like the United States and England. After he retired from the regular British Army he joined the 3rd Battalion Princess’ of Wales Royal Regiment 3PWRR, which is in the Reserves and located in London and in the lower southeast side of England. The 3PWRR is at Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center this August participating in Northern Strike 17 as part of their annual training. It gives him the opportunity to serve, but also do his now full-time job as the Guard Force Commander at the Australian Embassy in Afghanistan. He said he never would have been able to achieve this had he stayed in Nepal.
“I decided to follow in my father’s footsteps so that I could achieve what I really wanted to do,” said Jogendrasing who now lives in Folkestone, England. “I really wanted to visit the world, and since I joined the British Army I have visited at least 67 countries. If I was back in Nepal sitting there doing nothing, I would have never had this opportunity to visit the world and see the people around it.”
Jogendrasing is a third generation Gurkha, as both his father and grandfather were Nepali Soldiers in the British Army, however, because he is now a British citizen his sons could not become a Gurkha. Since he joined toward the end of the twentieth century he has seen changes within the British Army and specifically the Gurkhas.
“In the Gurkhas we used to work separately, away from the British Regiment, but now the world is very small, so we have to work together. That is why I have learned so much from my British counterparts; I feel proud working with them,” said Jogendrasing.
Jogendrasing is just one of three Gurkhas who enlisted in the 3PWRR after having served in the Royal Gurkha Rifles.
“The reserves gave me a taste of the Army without it being full time,” said Sanjay Ghale, a tactics instructor with the 3PWRR.
Sanjay is one of three brothers who are Gurkhas, he has another brother who tried but failed to beat out the competition. He said the reason why the competition is so fierce is because there are not a lot of opportunities to make good money in Nepal, and also because the people there live not only with their immediate but also extended families. Meaning there are tens of thousands every year competing for only about a hundred spots.
“It was always my hope to join the British Army, and it was everything I expected, especially when I was young,” said Sanjay who now lives in Ashford, England.
Both Jogendrasing and Sanjay come from the hilly side of Nepal, and said the reason why they are more fit than others from Nepal is because their families had to be self sufficient by growing their own food 100 percent organic, and also the going up and down the hills and the fresh mountain air. This gives them a step up in the competition and a small reason why the Gurkhas are so known.
“We the Gurkhas always work hard and to the best of our knowledge, this gives us a certain image around the world,” said Sanjay. “We have a natural skill in the jungle and the field, and those growing up in the mountains are even more skillful.”
Sanjay has been tasked out in his time to prove his skill going on 10 deployments throughout his career to Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Sierra Leone.
“All the deployments gave me the challenging opportunities working with the coalition forces and observing the exchange of knowledge between the different Nations’ armies,” said Sanjay.
Even though both have had the opportunity to train in the U.S. they are both enjoying their training in Michigan, helping to train their British Soldiers on platoon attacks.
They are also enjoying the benefit of their new commander of the 3PWRR being a former Gurkha officer.
“I really wanted to join a very professional unit and the Gurkhas’ is one of the best,” said Maj. Robert Morgan the commander of the 3PWRR, who also spent 16 years working with the Gurkhas. “I wanted to specialize in jungle warfare, which they do and the history is what really attracted me to it.”
Morgan said it is not like other British units in which the new officer can choose where to go, he said the Gurkhas’ chose him. After being chosen he went through an intensive course in Nepal to learn the language before getting sent to walk throughout the mountains with a guide, finding retired Gurkhas and making sure they were still alive and receiving their pensions. He then went home to lead the Gurkha.
“It was all I hoped it to be when I first decided I would like to join them, very professional, tough, strong Soldiers with a strong history that is still very much alive today,” said Morgan.
Besides those reasons for the Gurkhas’ fame he also thinks it’s because of the ‘red mist’ that comes over them in the heat of battle, however, once they have embraced you, you are like family. The British have been like family with the Gurkhas for over 200 years.
“Way back in the day we bumped into each other when the empire was expanding and we had a good fight,” said Morgan who is from Canterbury, England. “After we stopped and had a cup of tea we thought a lot of each other and our prowess and we decided to invite them to come and join us and they took up the offer.”
It has been over 200 years that the Gurkhas’ have expanded their reputation throughout England and around the world. They are known as fearsome fighters, and this summer Camp Grayling was lucky enough to host three of them.
Northern Strike 17 is a National Guard Bureau-sponsored exercise uniting approximately 5,000 service members from 13 states and five coalition countries during the first two weeks of August 2017 at the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center and the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, both located in northern Michigan and operated by the Michigan National Guard. The newly accredited NS17 demonstrates the Michigan National Guard’s ability to provide accessible, readiness-building opportunities for military units from all service branches to achieve and sustain proficiency in conducting mission command, air, sea, and ground maneuver integration, together with the synchronization of fires in a joint, multinational, decisive action environment.
| Date Taken: | 08.09.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 08.09.2017 19:06 |
| Story ID: | 244362 |
| Location: | GRAYLING, MICHIGAN, US |
| Hometown: | ASHFORD, KENT, GB |
| Hometown: | CANTERBURY, KENT, GB |
| Hometown: | FOLKESTONE, KENT, GB |
| Hometown: | LONDON, GREATER LONDON, GB |
| Web Views: | 882 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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