Lt Gen Manoj Pandey appointed as Next Army Chief; First Engineer to hold the top position

Lt Gen Manoj Pandey appointed as Next Army Chief (File Image)

New Delhi: The Government has appointed Vice Army Chief Lt Gen Manoj Pande as the next Chief of the Army Staff. He will be the 29th Army chief and will take over the charge of Chief of the Army Staff from General MM Naravane who is superannuation on April 30 after completing his tenure of 28-months.

"Government has decided to appoint Lt Gen Manoj Pande as the next Chief of Army Staff," the Ministry of Defence announced on Monday.

Lt Gen Pande is the first officer from the Corps of Engineers to reach the top position. Till now, only Armoured Corps, Artillery and Infantry officers have made it to the Army Chief.

Lt Gen Manoj Pande, an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers (The Bombay Sappers) in December 1982. He is a graduate of Staff College, Camberley (UK) and has attended the Higher Command and National Defence College Courses.

During his distinguished military career of about 40 years, he has served in numerous positions in the field and in counter-insurgency operations, including commanding an Engineer Regiment during Operation 'Parakram' in the sensitive Pallanwala Sector of Jammu and Kashmir, along the Line of Control. He commanded an Engineer Brigade in the Western Theatre as part of Strike Corps, an Infantry Brigade along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, a Mountain Division in the High Altitude Area of Western Ladakh and an Op Corps in Eastern Theatre, deployed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and in Counter Insurgency Operations area of Eastern Command.

General MM Naravane #COAS & All Ranks of #IndianArmy congratulate Lieutenant General Manoj Pande #VCOAS on being appointed as the 29th Chief of the Army Staff #COAS of the #IndianArmy. Lt Gen Manoj Pande will assume the appointment of #COAS on 01 May 2022.#InStrideWithTheFuture pic.twitter.com/fiUpc29U2A
— ADG PI – INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) April 18, 2022

Lt Gen Pande's 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 Brigade General Staff (Operations) at Headquarters Eastern Command.

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Corps of Engineers