Top Armed Forces Appointments : Names Shortlisted.

Whispers in the Corridors.

Top Armed Forces Appointments : Names Shortlisted.

Army to see Six New Army Commanders this Year. 

Seven C-in-C level top appointments presently tented by Army officers will  fall vacant in the year 2023, and the Army is going to have six new Army Commanders (and possibly one additional rotational C-in-C level appointment).  

The South Western Army Commander, AS Bhinder and the Central Army Commander Yogendra Dimri , retire at the end of February. Two months later (on 30th April) the Army held appointment of C-in-C Andaman & Nicobar Command (ANC) falls vacant when incumbent Ajai Singh retires. On 30th June 2023, Nav Khanduri retires from Western Command. This will be followed by retirements of Vice Chief of Army Staff, BS Raju , on 31st October 2023, Army Training Command (ARTRAC) boss Surinder Singh Mahal on 30th Nov 2023 and finally, Rana Pratap Kalita of Army’s Eastern Command will hang up his boots on 31st Dec 2023. 

So in the Army top brass, there are going to be a 6-7 new top appointees, some reshuffles of present incumbents between Commands, a new Vice Chief  and possibly a rotational tri service C-in-C.  But since the Modi Govt has already set a precedent by not following the seniority principle that earlier used to lead to automatic promotions based on dates of birth, (rather than merit), to get an Army Commanders rank, no one really knows yet who all are being short listed for new posts. But  "Whispers in the Corridors" as usual has all the inside information.

The MoD has recently shortlisted six Army officers for promotion to C-in-C level this year. The first two officers getting promotion as Army Commander at the end of February will be MV Sachindra Kumar of Assam Regiment who is presently a Deputy Chief in Integrated Defence Staff HQ  and NS Raja Subramani of Garhwal Rifles Regiment, presently the Chief of Staff of Army’s Northern Command.  Both MV Sachindra Kumar and NS Raja Subramani are Infantry Officers of Army’s June 1985 and December 1985 batches respectively.  In April 2023, when the ANC boss in Port Blair, Ajai Singh retires, this rotational C-in-C vacancy is likely to go to an IAF or IN officer and the Army may subsequently get either the CISC or C-in-C SFC rotational tri-service appointments presently held by IAF and IN officers. On 30 June 2023, when the  vacancy of Army’s Western Command falls vacant,  Johnson P Mathew of Punjab Regiment, who is a December 1985 Batch Infantry Officer and presently the Uttar Bharat  Area Commander in Bareilly, will be promoted as Army Commander.

For the vacancy of Vice Chief of Army Staff  which will be vacated by BS Raju on 31st October, the man stepping up to be an Army Commander will be Manoj Kumar Katiyar, a June 1986 batch Officer of the Rajput Regiment  who is the present DGMO. It is also most likely that to replace BS Raju (who holds the dubious distinction of having become a  Vice Chief without ever commanding any Army Command), Upendra Dwivedi from Northern Command will be brought into New Delhi as the Vice Chief, as he is slated to take over as COAS from Manoj Pande on 1st June 2024. 

On 30th November 2023 when the ARTRAC man in Shimla, a Cavalry Officer, retires, he will be replaced by another Cavalry Officer, Dhiraj Seth  of December 1986 batch, who is presently the Delhi Area Headquarters boss, and is the only Non -Infantry Officer being promoted to  C-in-C level this year. 

(Additional Fun Fact for Defence aficionados ) Dhiraj Seth is the General to keep track of, as going purely by the seniority principle and chain of succession,(essentially date of birth)  he is the Army General set to become Chief of Army Staff on 1st August 2026 after Upendra Dwivedi. His not becoming a COAS will mean the Govt bypassing him for a junior. 

And finally at the end of the year on 31st December 2023, when Rana Pratap Kalita retires in Kolkata, another December 1986 batch officer, Manjinder Singh of Madras Regiment who is presently a Deputy Chief in Integrated Defence Staff HQ, will be promoted as an Army Commander.  

The Army's current promotion policy stipulates a residual service of only 18 months on the date of assumption by an Army Commander  (instead of the earlier 24 months) and it is based on this policy that new panel has been drawn up. All promotions are of course subject to final Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approvals. Any slips between the cup & lip will be known first by Whispers, so do Subscribe to Whispers in the Corridors for most accurate advance knowledge of all Govt matters. 

Dr Suresh Mehrotra

Editor -in- Chief

mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com 

suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com

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