New Delhi, Apr : Lt Gen Manoj Pande will take the reins as the 29th Chief of the Army Staff after incumbent Gen MM Naravane\u2019s tenure ends on April 30.<\/p>\n
Lt Gen Pande, currently serving as the Vice Chief, will become the first Commander from the Corps of Engineers to take charge of the 1.3-million-strong force as the position has been held so far by officers from Infantry, Artillery and Armoured Regiments.
\nBefore taking charge as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff on February 1, he was heading the Eastern Army Command tasked with guarding the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh sectors.
\nOfficials said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the appointment of Lt Gen Pande as the next Army chief.
\nLt Gen Pande also served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command, which is India\u2019s only tri-services command.
\n\u201cGeneral 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,\u201d the Army tweeted.
\nAn alumnus of the National Defence Academy, he was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers (the Bombay Sappers) in December 1982.
\nIn his distinguished career, he has held several prestigious command and staff assignments in conventional as well as counter-insurgency operations in all types of terrain.
\nHe commanded an Engineer Regiment along the Line of Control during the Operation Parakram in Jammu and Kashmir, an Engineer Brigade in the Western Sector, an Infantry Brigade along LoC and a Mountain Division in high-altitude area of Western Ladakh and a corps in the Northeast.
\nHis staff exposures include Brigade Major of a Mountain Brigade in the Northeast, Assistant Military Secretary (AMS) in the Military Secretary\u2019s Branch and Brigadier General Staff (Operations) at the Eastern Command headquarters.
\nHe has served as Chief Engineer in the United Nations mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
\nHe has also served as the Additional Director General in the Military Operations Directorate at the Army headquarters and as the chief of staff at the headquarters of the Southern Command.
\nFor his illustrious service, he has been conferred Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Vishisht Seva Medal, the Chief of Army Staff Commendation and the GOC-in-C Commendation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Delhi, Apr : Lt Gen Manoj Pande will take the reins as the 29th Chief of the Army Staff after incumbent Gen MM Naravane\u2019s tenure ends on April 30. Lt Gen Pande, currently serving as the Vice Chief, will become the first Commander from the Corps of Engineers to take charge of the 1.3-million-strong …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33963,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,18,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-opinion","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\n