Vijay Kumar Singh

General Vijay Kumar Singh
The Chief at a function in St. Paul's School, Darjeeling on November 2010
Born	10 May 1951 Khadki Military Hospital, Pune, India
Allegiance	India
Service/branch	Indian Army
Years of service	1970–2012
Rank	General
Unit	2 Rajput
Commands held	Honorary Aide-De-Camp to the President of India Colonel of The Rajput Regiment Honorary Colonel of The Brigade of Guards GOC-in-C Eastern Command GOC Kharga Corps GOC Rastriya Rifles Force Commander Infantry Brigade CO 2 Rajput (Kali Chindi)
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Operation Pawan
Awards	Param Vishisht Seva Medal Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Yudh Seva Medal

General Vijay Kumar Singh, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC (born 10 May 1951) is a retired Indian Army officer who served as the 26th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army.^[1] He was the first commando to be promoted general and was also the first serving Indian military chief to take the Government to court. He has written Courage and Conviction: An Autobiography.

Early life and education

Vijay Kumar Singh was born in a Rajput family^[2] in Bapora village, Bhiwani district in the Indian state of Haryana.^[3] His father was a Colonel in the Indian Army and grandfather a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO). Singh was educated at Birla Public School, Pilani, Rajasthan.^[4]

Military career

Singh was commissioned into the 2nd Battalion of The Rajput Regiment (Kali Chindi) on 14 June 1970. He then commanded the same unit when it was positioned along the Line of Control with Pakistan.^[5]

He graduated from the Defence Services Staff College as an honours graduate of the United States Army Infantry School, a graduate of the Rangers Course at Fort Benning and the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.^[6] In the US for the Rangers course, he came first in combat operations.

Singh is experienced in counter insurgency operations and high altitude operations. He has also seen action in the 1971 Bangladesh war. During his career he has served in various positions:

• Military Operations Directorate at the Army Headquarters.
• Brigadier General Staff of a Corps during 'Operation Parakram' when Indian troops were mobilised on the border in the wake of the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001.
• Commanded Ambala-based 2 Corps and Jalandhar based 11 Corps in Punjab state.^{[citation needed]}
• Instructor in the Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT) headquarters in Bhutan.

Singh was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) for distinguished service while commanding a counter-insurgency force.^[7]

He became Chief of Army Staff on 31 March 2010, and was the first commando to achieve that position.^[6] Towards the end of his career there was a dispute regarding the incumbent's date of birth and this cause Vijay Singh to become the first serving officer of the Indian Army to take the government to court.^[8] As a consequence of an error made when he had enrolled with the National Defence Academy in 1965, official records mis-stated the year in which he was born. He withdrew the writ in February 2012 when, according to The Hindu, the Supreme Court "refused to intervene". The Court noted that there was no dispute regarding his actual date of birth and that the matter being contested was regarding how that had been recorded. It ruled that Singh had on three occasions accepted the misrecorded date.^[9]

The BBC noted in 2012 that defence experts considered a drive to modernise the Indian army had suffered from "a lack of planning and acrimony between the military and the defence ministry". This report followed an interview given by Singh in March 2012 that had caused a political row. Singh said that over a year earlier he had reported to A. K. Antony. the defence minister, that he had been offered a bribe of US$2.7 million if the army bought several hundred sub-standard vehicles. Antony issued a rebuttal to the interview, saying that he had requested at the time that Singh provide a written report regarding the incident and that this had never been submitted. Two days after the interview with Singh, correspondence between the general and the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, was leaked. This criticised the standard of India's defences and caused a further political row.^[10]

Retirement

Singh retired as Chief of Army Staff on 31 May 2012. He was succeeded by General Bikram Singh.^[11] Subsequent to his retirement, Singh showed support for the anti-corruption movement of which Anna Hazare is a figurehead.^[12] Amid speculations, Singh has ruled out any chances of joining BJP.^[13]

Honours and awards

On 11 March 2011, Singh was inducted into the United States Army War College (Class of 2001 graduate) International Fellows Hall of Fame. He is the 33rd International Fellow and the first Indian Armed Forces officer to be inducted.^[14]

• Param Vishisht Seva Medal
• Ati Vishisht Seva Medal
• Yudh Seva Medal for his distinguished service during Operation Pawan
• Ranger Tab

See also

• List of Chiefs of Army Staff

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vijay Kumar Singh.

• General V. K. Singh, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC in the Indian Army official website

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