Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army

The Chief of the Army Staff is the commander and usually the highest-ranking officer of the Indian Army. The position is abbreviated as COAS in Indian Army cables and communication.

The current COAS is General Vijay Kumar Singh, who took office on 1 April 2010.

Office of the Chief of the Army Staff

The office of the Chief of the Army Staff was created through The Commanders-In-Chief (Change in Designation) Act of the Indian Parliament in 1955. It replaced the erstwhile office of the Commander-in-Chief, Army.[1] The office is based at South Block in Raisina Hill, New Delhi.

Appointments to the office are made by the President of India. The COAS reaches superannuation at the age of 62.

Appointees

The following table chronicles the appointees to the office of the Chief of the Army Staff or its preceding positions since the independence of India.[2]

No. Name Appointment Date Left Office Unit of Commission Decorations
1 General Sir Robert McGregor Macdonald Lockhart* 15 August 1947 31 December 1947 Infantry - 51 Sikhs Frontier Force KCB, CIE, MC
2 General Sir Francis Robert Roy Bucher* 1 January 1948 15 January 1949 Infantry KBE, CB, MC
3 Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa 16 January 1949 14 January 1953 Infantry - Rajput Regiment OBE
4 General Maharaj Shri Rajendrasinhji Jadeja 15 January 1953 14 May 1955 Armoured Corps, 2nd Lancers DSO
5 General Satyawant Mallannah Shrinagesh 15 May 1955 7 May 1957 Infantry - Kumaon Regiment
6 General Kodandera Subayya Thimayya 8 May 1957 7 May 1961 Infantry - Kumaon Regiment Padma Vibhushan, DSO, ADC[3]
7 General Pran Nath Thapar 8 May 1961 19 November 1962 Infantry - 1st Punjab Regiment[4]
8 General Joyanto Nath Chaudhuri 20 November 1962 7 June 1966 Armoured Corps, 16th Light Cavalry and 7th Light Cavary Padma Vibhushan, OBE
9 General Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam 8 June 1966 7 June 1969 Regiment of Artillery Padma Vibhushan, DSO, MBE
10 Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw 8 June 1969 15 January 1973 Infantry - 8 Gorkha Rifles Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, MC
11 General Gopal Gurunath Bewoor 16 January 1973 31 May 1975 Infantry - 11 Gorkha Rifles and Dogra PVSM
12 General Tapishwar Narain Raina 1 June 1975 31 May 1978 Infantry - Kumaon Regiment Padma Bhushan MVC
13 General Om Prakash Malhotra 1 June 1978 31 May 1981 Regiment of Artillery PVSM
14 General Kotikalapudi Venkata Krishna Rao 1 June 1981 31 July 1983 Infantry - Mahar Regiment PVSM
15 General Arun Shridhar Vaidya 1 August 1983 31 January 1985 Armoured Corps, Deccan Horse Padma Vibhushan, PVSM, MVC(Bar), AVSM
16 General Krishnaswamy Sundarji 1 February 1985 31 May 1988 Infantry - Mahar Regiment PVSM, ADC
17 General Vishwa Nath Sharma 1 June 1988 30 June 1990 Armoured Corps, 16 Light Cavalry PVSM, AVSM, ADC
18 General Sunith Francis Rodrigues 1 July 1990 30 June 1993 Regiment of Artillery PVSM, VSM
19 General Bipin Chandra Joshi 1 July 1993 19 November 1994 Armoured Corps, 64 Cavalry PVSM, AVSM, ADC
20 General Shankar Roychowdhury 20 November 1994 30 September 1997 Armoured Corps, 20th Lancers PVSM, ADC
21 General Ved Prakash Malik 1 October 1997 30 September 2000 Infantry - Sikh Light Infantry PVSM, AVSM, ADC
22 General Sundararajan Padmanabhan 1 October 2000 30 December 2002 Regiment of Artillery PVSM, AVSM,VSM, ADC
23 General Nirmal Chander Vij 31 December 2002 31 January 2005 Infantry - Dogra Regiment PVSM, UYSM, AVSM
24 General Joginder Jaswant Singh 1 February 2005 30 September 2007 Infantry - Maratha Light Infantry PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC
25 General Deepak Kapoor 1 October 2007 30 March 2010 Regiment of Artillery PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC
26 General Vijay Kumar Singh 31 March 2010 Incumbent Infantry - Rajput Regiment PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC

References

  1. ^ "The Commanders-In-Chief (Change in Designation) Act, 1955". VakilNo1.com. http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/laws/The-Commanders-In-Chief-Change-in-Designation-Act-1955.html. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  2. ^ "Chief of the Army Staff". Indian Army. http://indianarmy.nic.in/Site/FormTemplete/frmTemp1PTC2C.aspx?MnId=oDh0T8OwkS94bMpSUEC5qQ==&ParentID=no1EyXv/1frtlrCSwDzk4Q==&flag=ME/QE+cjVT6HFH7fxoR5MQ==. Retrieved 2011-11-01. 
  3. ^ Gen K.S. Thimayya was commissioned and first attached to the 2nd Battalion, Highland Light Infantry with status "Unattached List Indian Army". Later he joined the 4th Battalion 19th Hyderabad Regiment, which became his parent battalion. The 19th Hyderabad Regiment later became the Kumaon Regiment after India gained independence.Khanduri, Chandra B.(2006)
  4. ^ Entry on Gen P.N. Thapar at the Official Indian Army Website. Accessed 02 August 2010.
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