Lieutenant General Manoj Mukund Naravane, PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC is the current & the 40th Vice Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army. He assumed office on 1 September 2019 following the retirement of Lt Gen Devraj Anbu.
- Lt Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane is set to become the next chief of the 1.3 million-strong Indian Army, official sources said on Monday. Lt Gen Naravane is currently serving as Vice Chief of the Army. Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat is due for retirement on December 31. Before taking charge as vice chief of the Army Staff in September, Lt Gen Naravane was heading the Eastern Command of the Army which takes care of India’s nearly 4,000-km border with China.
- In his 37 years of service, Lt Gen Naravane has served in numerous command and staff appointments in peace, field and highly active counter-insurgency environments in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast. He has also commanded a Rashtriya Rifles Battalion in Jammu and Kashmir and an infantry brigade on the eastern front.
Government has decided to appoint Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane, PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, as the next Chief of the Army Staff after the retirement of General Bipin Rawat, UYSM, AVSM, YSM, SM, VSM, ADC on December 31, 2019. Lt Gen Naravane will take over as Chief of the Army Staff in the substantive rank of General with effect from the afternoon of December 31, 2019.
Lt Gen Naravane did his schooling at Dnayana Prabodhinee Prashala, Pune. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy, the General Officer was commissioned into the 7th Battalion, The Sikh Light Infantry Regiment in June 1980. He is an alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and Higher Command Course, Mhow. He holds a Master’s Degree in Defence Studies, M. Phil Degree in Defence and Management Studies and is currently pursuing his Doctorate.
In a distinguished military career spanning almost four decades, the General Officer has the distinction of tenating key command and staff appointments in Peace and Field both in North East and Jammu & Kashmir and has been part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka during ‘Operation Pawan’. The Officer brings with him enormous experience of serving in the most challenging areas. The General Officer has commanded 2nd Battalion, Rashtriya Rifles (Sikh Light Infantry), 106 Infantry Brigade, Inspector General Assam Rifles (North) at Kohima, Nagaland and 2 Corps. His staff assignments include tenures as a Brigade Major of an Infantry Brigade, Assistant Adjutant & Quartermaster General (AA&QMG) of Headquarters Establishment No 22, Defence Attache at Yangon, Myanmar, an instructional appointment in the Army War College as Directing Staff in the Higher Command Wing, besides two tenures at the Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (Army), New Delhi.
The General Officer had the privilege of commanding the Republic Day Parade in 2017 in his capacity as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) Delhi Area. After successfully commanding the Army Training Command, Shimla, he took over as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of Eastern Command on October 01, 2018.
