An Indian Air Force helicopter carrying senior defence officials on Wednesday crashed in Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor, killing CDS Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others on board. Rawat, who was appointed India’s first Chief of Defence Staff on 31 Dec 2019 was commissioned on 16 December 1978 into the Fifth Battalion of the Eleventh Gorkha Rifles of the Infantry. It was the battalion his father had commanded and thus began his illustrious career in the Indian military.
In his four-decade-old career, he has served in several combat and conflict situations. According to the Integrated Defence Staff website, Rawat had led the Infantry Battalion along the Line of Actual Control in the Eastern Sector and a Rashtriya Rifles Sector in the Kashmir Valley. “Soon thereafter, he went on to Command a Multinational Brigade in a Chapter VII mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He was assigned to Command an Infantry Division along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and was Corps Commander in the North-East. As an Army Commander, he was responsible to oversee operations in the Desert sector, along the Western front,” states the website.
Rawat, however, also had academic inclinations and had authored several published academic articles on National Security and Military Leadership. He also holds diplomas like one in Management and another in Computer Studies. He has a PhD in Military Media Strategic Studies, from a university in Meerut.
In over 40 years long career, Rawat has had several instructional positions and have been appointed in important posts. According to the IDS website, these include instructional tenures at the Indian Military Academy (Dehradun) and at the Junior Command Wing as the Senior Instructor. “He was the General Staff Officer at Military Operations Directorate, the Colonel and later Deputy Military Secretary in the Military Secretary’s Branch, the Major General Staff of the Eastern Theatre and was also the Vice Chief of the Army Staff. The General was the Chief of the Army Staff from 31 Dec 2016 to 31 Dec 2019,” said the website.
He was a graduate of the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, where he had won the prestigious ‘Sword of Honour’. He was a student of St Edward School, in Shimla as well as an alumnus of the NDA (National Defence Academy).
Rawat has received several Presidential Awards including Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM), Uttam Yudh Seva Medal (UYSM), Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM), Yudh Seva Medal (YSM), Sena Medal (SM) and the Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM). Besides these, he was also the recipient of the Chief of Army Staff Commendation on two occasions as also the Army Commander’s Commendation. While serving with the UN in Congo, he was twice awarded the Force Commander’s Commendation.
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