Manoj Mukund Naravane from Pune to be next Indian Army Chief
Pune, December 16, 2019: Vice Chief of Army Lt Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane, who hails from Pune, has been appointed as the next Chief of Army Staff. He will take over from Gen Bipin Rawat who retires on December 31. He had assumed the charge of Vice Chief of the Army Staff on 1 September 2019.
Lt Gen Naravane will be the 28th Chief of Army Staff and will succeed General Bipin Rawat on December 31. Once he takes over, chiefs of all the three services would be from the 56th course of NDA.
Lt Gen Naravane is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, Pune, and the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun. He was commissioned into the 7th Battalion, The Sikh Light Infantry Regiment in Jun 1980. He brings with him an enormous amount of experience in serving in the most challenging areas. In a distinguished military career spanning almost four decades, he has the distinction of tenating key appointments in active Counter Insurgency environments, both in the North East and in Jammu and Kashmir & was a part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka during Operation PAWAN. He also has had the opportunity of serving as a Defence Attache at the Indian Embassy in Myanmar for three years.
The General is a highly decorated and accomplished Officer who has been awarded the ‘Sena Medal’ (Distinguished) for command of his Battalion in J&K, the ‘Vishisht Seva Medal’ for his services as the Inspector General Assam Rifles (North) in Nagaland, the ‘Ati Vishisht Seva Medal’ for command of a prestigious Strike Corps and was honoured with ‘Param Vishisht Seva Medal’ for his distinguished services as the GOC-in-C of the Army Training Command.
Lt Gen Naravane is son of ex-Indian Air Force (IAF) Officer Mukund Naravane and Sudha Naravane, who was a popular news reader at All India Radio, Pune Station and noted Marathi short story writer.
