Eastern Command Gets A New Army Commander. A New Deputy Chief For The Indian Navy And A New DG Assam Rifles
With retirements of the incumbents, the Indian armed forces get three new faces in the top hierarchy that includes two commander-in-chiefs of two commands and a new Deputy Chief For The Navy. Even the paramilitary Assam Rifle gets a new Director General.
Lt Gen Manoj Pande has taken over the Eastern Army with the Command HQ based in Kolkata. He till now was the Commander in Chief of Andaman & Nicobar Tri Services Command. He has been replaced by Lt Gen Ajai Singh as the commander in chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC).
The ANC is crucial being the Eastern Gate to the Indian Ocean Region. It is the first tri-services Command of the country and the model for theaterisation of the country’s Army.
Lt Gen Pande, who took over the reins of Eastern Command as its General Officern Commanding-in-Chief was commissioned in the Bombay Sappers of Corps of Engineers in December 1982.
He commanded an Engineer Regiment along the Line of Control (LoC) during Operation Parakram in Jammu and Kashmir, an Engineer Brigade in Western Sector, Infantry Brigade along LoC in Jammu and Kashmir, Mountain Division in High Altitude Area of Western Ladakh and a Corps in North-East.
The General is a graduate of Staff College Camberley, UK and has varied experience in staff appointments which include the Military Secretary and Military Operations Branches at Army Headquarters, Operations Branch in a Brigade Headquarters in the North-East and Headquarters Eastern Command at Kolkata.
Lt Gen Ajai Singh, who heads the ANC now is an armoured corps officer and a fifth generation army officer. He was commissioned in December 1983, into 81 Armoured Regiment, a regiment raised by his late father. He has also undertaken volunteer tenures for counter-insurgency operations in the Kashmir Valley and in North-East, where he was posted at a Mountain Division on the border.
As a Major with over 16 years of service, the General had also volunteered for a tenure on the Siachen glacier and was posted to a Battalion of the Maratha Light Infantry, with whom he commanded a Rifle Company in Operations Vijay (Kargil) and Meghdoot (Siachen Glacier) and received the Army Chief’s Commendation for gallantry.
The General has also held sensitive posts at the Army Headquarters as the Additional DG at the Military Operations Directorate. He has been the Director General (DG) of Financial Planning and Director General of Military Training.
Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh assumed charge as Deputy Chief of Naval Staff on June 1, taking over from Vice Admiral MS Pawar who superannuated on May 31.
Vice Admiral Singh was commissioned into the Indian Navy on July 1, 1983 and specialised in aviation. The Flag Officer is a qualified flying instructor with master green instrument rating. He has flown HT-2, Kiran HJT 16, TS 11 Iskra, Hunter, Harrier Gr 3, Jet Provost, Chetak, Gazelle, Hawk and Mig 29 KUB aircraft during his illustrious career, the Navy said.
He has commanded various frontline ships and Naval Air Squadrons including INS Himgiri, INS Ranvijay, INS Ranvir, INAS 551B, INAS 300 as well as the premier Air Base INS Hansa. Additionally, he was also appointed Indian Defence Advisor (Kenya, Tanzania and Seychelles) from 2005 to 2008.
On promotion to flag rank, he has held key assignments of Assistant Controller Carrier Project and Assistant Controller Warship Production and Acquisition at Integrated Headquarters (IHQ) MoD(N), Flag Officer Goa Area/ Flag Officer Naval Aviation at Goa and Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet at Mumbai.
In the rank of Vice Admiral, the Flag Officer has tenanted the appointments of Chief of Staff at Headquarters Western Naval Command, Mumbai, Director General Project Seabird and Chief of Personnel at IHQ MoD.
Vice Admiral Singh was awarded Commendation by the Chief of the Naval Staff in 2000 and has been decorated with the Nausena Medal (Gallantry) in 2004 and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2017.
The Assam Rifles got a new chief as Lieutenant General Pradeep Chandran Nair took over as the Director General.
Lieutenant General Nair has a rich experience of Assam Rifles and the North East, having earlier been an Inspector General and a Company Commander in Assam Rifles, besides having commanded a Assam Rifles Sector as a Brigade Commander.
The General Officer was commissioned into the Sikh Regiment in 1985. He has a very vast combat experience having commanded his battalion in Siachen Glacier and Assam. He had earlier served as Inspector General of Assam Rifles in Nagaland. He has also been an instructor in Infantry School, Mhow, Indian Military Training Team, Bhutan and a Directing Staff at the prominent Defence Services Staff College.
Lieutenant General Nair has served in the Army Headquarters as a Colonel, Major General and Lieutenant General. He has also served as Brigadier General Staff in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa Area and in the Defence Intelligence Agency.
In other significant posting in the Indian Navy, Vice Admiral Dinesh Tripathi took over as chief of personnel, Vice Admiral Sandeep Naithani assumed charge as Chief of Material and Vice Admiral Kiran Deshmukh was appointed Controller Warship Production and Acquisition.
