Lt Gen Manoj Pande appointed as Army Chief, first engineer to hold top post

The Central Government on Monday appointed Indian Army Vice Chief Lieutenant General Manoj Pande as the next chief of the Indian Army and he will take over his new office on 1 May.The 29th Army chief will be the first officer from the Corps of Engineers to become the Chief of Army Staff succeeding General Manoj Mukund Naravane who is scheduled to complete his 28 month-tenure on 30 April."Government has decided to appoint Lieutenant General Manoj Pande as the next chief of army staff," the Defence officials told ANI.Lt Gen Manoj Pande, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, was commissioned in December 1982 in the Corps of Engineers (The Bombay Sappers).The General Officer has commanded 117 Engineer Regiment during Operation Parakram in the sensitive Pallanwala Sector of Jammu and Kashmir, along the Line of Control.  He is a graduate of Staff College, Camberley (United Kingdom) and attended the Higher Command (HC) and National Defence College (NDC) courses.In his 39 years of distinguished military career, he has tenanted important and challenging command and staff appointments in different operational environments which include command of an engineer brigade in the western theatre, as part of strike corps, an infantry brigade along Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, a mountain division in the high altitude area of western Ladakh and command of a Corps, deployed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and in counter insurgency operations area of Eastern Command.His staff exposures include Brigade Major of a mountain brigade in the North East, Assistant Military Secretary (AMS) in military secretary’s branch, Colonel Q of a mountain division in high altitude area and Brigadier General Staff (Operations) at headquarters Eastern Command.Pande has served as chief engineer in the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea. He has also tenanted the appointments of Additional Director General in the military operations directorate at army headquarters, Chief of Staff Headquarters Southern Command and Director General Discipline ceremonial & welfare at the army headquarters.He was Commander-in-Chief Andaman & Nicobar Command (CINCAN) from June 2020 to May 2021 and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command from Jun 2021 to Jan 2022. The General Officer has taken over as Vice Chief of Army Staff on 1 Feb 2022.For his illustrious service he has been conferred with the award of Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Vishisht Seva Medal, the Chief of Army Staff Commendation and twice with GOC-in-C Commendation.With input from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.