Army Vice Lieutenant General Manoj Pande will be the next Chief of Indian Army. Lt Gen Pande has become the first engineer to hold the top military post. He will succeed General Manoj Mukund Naravane, who is scheduled to complete his 28 month-tenure on April 30. In February this year, Lt Gen Pande took over as the Deputy Chief of the Indian Army in place of Lt Gen CP Mohanty.

Lt Gen Pande served as the Eastern Army Commander before becoming the Vice Chief of the Indian Army. He had commanded the Andaman and Nicobar Command before taking over the Eastern Command. He headed the Eastern Army Command guarding the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh sectors. Lt Gen Pande is an alumnus of the National Defense Academy and was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers in December 1982. Lt General Manoj Pande Appointed as Next Chief of Indian Army

In his distinguished career, he has performed many prestigious command and staff assignments in conventional as well as counter insurgency operations in all types of terrain. He commanded 117 Engineer Regiment along the Line of Control during Operation Parakram in Jammu and Kashmir, an Engineer Brigade in the Western Sector, an Infantry Brigade along the Line of Control and a Hill Division in the high altitude areas of Western Ladakh and one in the Northeast. took command of the Corps. Paratroopers of Indian Army Carry Large-Scale Drops Near Siliguri Corridor (Watch Video)

He has served as Chief Engineer in United Nations Missions in Ethiopia and Eritrea. He was the Commander-in-Chief Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN) from June 2020 to May 2021. For his distinguished service, he has been awarded Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Vishisht Seva Medal, Chief of Army Staff Commendation and  twice with GOC-in-C Commendation.

Manoj Pande is an alumnus of the prestigious National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla and the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun. He was commissioned into the Bombay Sappers in December 1982 after passing out from the IMA.

In his 39 years of service so far, General Pandey has successfully accomplished many challenging targets and strategically important responsibilities. He was in command of the Engineer Brigade in the Western Theatre. Manoj Pandey has also been a part of the Strike Corps and the Infantry Brigade along the Line of Control. In addition, he has been an officer of the Mountban Brigade in the North East, AMS in the Military Secretariat Branch, Colonel Q in the Mountain Division and General Staff of Operations at Eastern Command Headquarters.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 18, 2022 08:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).