Army gets a new commander in south, more in the offing

2013 will witness change of guard in the crucial Northern Command, the Army Training Command and the South Western Command, reports RS Chauhan

With Lt Gen Ashok Singh taking charge on Friday as Southern Army commander headquartered in Pune, the Army has kicked off the next round of new appointments to the crucial posts of Army commanders. 

The Army has seven Army commander rank posts, each of them heading the Northern, Eastern, Southern, Western, Central, South Western and Army Training Commands. They, along with the Chief and the Vice Chief, make up the apex leadership in India's 1.1 million strong Army. This collegiate takes crucial policy decisions, makes key selections to prestigious courses like the National Defence College and is entrusted with the responsibility of leading the respective commands across the spectrum.

While Lt Gen Ashok Singh has replaced Lt Gen AK Singh who retired after 40 years of distinguished service, 2013 will witness change of guard in the crucial Northern Command, the Army Training Command and the South Western Command.

Northern Army Commander Lt Gen KT Parnaik is set to retire at the end of July, Lt Gen Surendra Nath, who heads the Army Training Command headquartered at Shimla, will hang up his boots in a month earlier, while Lt Gen Gyan Bhushan will end his tenure at the Jaipur-located South Western Army Command by December 2013. In between, another Army commander level post will fall vacant when the current Chief of Integrated Defence Staff Lt Gen Naresh Marwah also retires this summer.

Lt. Gens Philipp Campose, Sanjeev Madhok, Rajan Bakshi and Arun Sawhney are expected to fill the vacancy as they start arising.