The union government on Monday appointed Lt Gen Manoj Pande, presently Vice Chief of the Army Staff, as the next Chief of the Army Staff with effect from the afternoon of April 30, 2022.
Lt Gen Manoj Pande is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and has undergone courses at Staff College, Camberley (UK), Army War College, Mhow, and National Defence College, New Delhi.
Who is Manoj Pande?
Lt Gen Manoj Chandrashekhar Pande is a serving General Officer in the Indian Army.
Currently serving as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff since 1 February 2022, he has been appointed as the next Army Chief with effect from the afternoon of April 30, 2022.
He was born on May 06, 1962, to Dr. C G Pande and Prema Pande in a Marathi-Brahmin family hailing from Nagpur.
His father Dr. C G Pande was a consulting Psychotherapist who retired as the Head of the Department of Psychology of Nagpur University. His mother Prema was an announcer and host with the All India Radio.
After his schooling at Somalwar high school, he joined the National Defence Academy (NDA), where he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science.
He later joined the Indian Military Academy and was commissioned as an officer, whereafter he attended the College of Military Engineering, Pune, earning a Bachelor of Technology degree in Civil Engineering.
Pande was commissioned on December 24, 1982, in the Corps of Engineers (The Bombay Sappers) of the Indian Army.
Distinguished Career in the Indian Army
During his long and distinguished service in the Indian Army spanning over 39 years, he has served in a variety of Command, Staff, and Instructional appointments.
The Command appointments of Lt Gen Manoj C Pande include Command of an Engineer Brigade in the Western Theatre, as part of Strike Corps and an Infantry Brigade along with Line-of-Control in Jammu & Kashmir.
Other important Command appointments include a Mountain Division in the high-altitude area of the Western Ladakh and Command of a Corps, deployed along the LAC and in the Counter Insurgency Operations area of Eastern Command.
In the rank of Lt General, the officer has held important appointments including that of Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command and as the GOC-in-C of the Eastern Command at Kolkata before getting appointed as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff.
For his illustrious service, Lt Gen Manoj C Pande has been conferred with Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, and Vishisht Seva Medal.