A tribute to the first Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat
India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife, and 11 others were killed when their IAF Mi-17 helicopter crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris district on December 8, 2021. The whole nation mourned his sad demise while the President, PM, CMs of States including Odisha, cine stars and cricketers condoled death of the first CDS.
Biography
Bipin Laxman Singh Rawat was born on 16 March 1958. He was a four-star general of the Indian Army. He was born in a Hindu Garhwali Rajput family in Pauri town of Pauri Garhwal district in modern-day Uttarakhand state. Name of his father is Laxman Singh Rawat. His mother was from the Uttarkashi district and was the daughter of Kishan Singh Parmar, the ex- MLA from Uttarkashi.
Marriage
In 1985, Rawat married Madhulika Rawat. A descendant of an erstwhile princely family, she was the daughter of Kunwar Mrigendra Singh. The couple had two daughters, Kritika and Tarini.
Education
Rawat attended Cambrian Hall School in Dehradun and St. Edward’s School in Shimla. He then joined the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, from where he graduated first in the order of merit and was awarded the ‘Sword of Honour’. Rawat was also a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington and the Higher Command Course at the United States Army Command and General Staff College (USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1997.
Military Career
Rawat was commissioned into the 5th battalion, the 11 Gorkha Rifles (5/11 GR) on 16 December 1978. He has much experience in high-altitude warfare and spent ten years conducting counter-insurgency operations.
After promotion to major general, Rawat took over as the General Officer Commanding 19th Infantry Division (Uri). As a lieutenant general, he commanded III Corps, headquartered in Dimapur, before taking over the Southern Army in Pune.
He also served as the Major General General Staff (MGGS) of the Eastern Command. After being promoted to the Army Commander grade, Rawat assumed the post of General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Southern Command on 1 January 2016. After a short stint, he assumed the post of Vice Chief of Army Staff on 1 September 2016.
On 17 December 2016, the Government of India appointed him as the 27th Chief of the Army Staff, superseding two more senior Lieutenant Generals, Praveen Bakshi and P. M. Hariz.
The Myanmar operation
In June 2015, eighteen Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush by militants belonging to the United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia (UNLFW) in Manipur. The Indian Army responded with cross-border strikes in which units of the 21st battalion of the Parachute Regiment struck an NSCN-K base in Myanmar. 21 Para was under the operational control of the Dimapur based III Corps, which was then commanded by Rawat.
Role in 2016 Surgical Strike
General Rawat was also greatly involved in the planning for the 2016 surgical strikes, which saw the Indian Army cross the Line of Control into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. During the strike, General Rawat was keeping an eye on the situation from South Block in New Delhi.
Gen Rawat the Chief of Defence Staff
After 43 years in service, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat (63) was tasked with making the Indian military modern and capable of dealing with any emerging security challenges on the Northern or Western borders.
General Rawat took charge as India’s first Chief of Defence Staff on January 1, 2020. The position was created to integrate the three services — Army, Navy and Air Force. The CDS is mandated to facilitate integration, ensure best economical use of resources allocated to the armed forces and bring uniformity in the procurement procedure.
As CDS, General Rawat was also the Principal Military Advisor to the Defence Minister on all tri-services matters.
Later, he was also appointed as the head of the newly-created Department of Military Affairs.
On December 17, 2016, the government had appointed him as the 27th Chief of the Army Staff. He took charge on December 31, 2016, after the retirement of General Dalbir Singh Suhag.
He had assured the government that the Army, Navy and Air Force will work as a team and the CDS will ensure integration among the three forces.
He played a key role in ensuring optimum utilisation of allocated budget, ushering more synergy in procurement, training and operations of the services through joint planning and integration.
He facilitated indigenisation of weapons and equipment to the maximum extent possible while formulating the overall defence acquisition plan for the three services.
When he took over as Chief of Defence Staff, General Rawat vowed to work to create more synergy among the three services.
“The CDS is mandated to facilitate integration, ensure best economical use of resources allocated to the armed forces and bring uniformity in the procurement procedure. I want to assure you that the Army, Navy and Air Force will work as a team and the CDS will ensure integration among these,” he had said.
Before being appointed as the CDS, he had served as Indian Army chief for three years.
He was an alumnus of National Defence Academy, Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, and National Defence College. He also attended the Command and General Staff Course at Fort Leavenworth in the US.
During his distinguished career in the Army, General Rawat commanded an infantry battalion along the Line of Actual Control in the Eastern Sector, a Rashtriya Rifles Sector, an infantry division in the Kashmir Valley and a Corps in the Northeast.
General Rawat had also commanded a Multinational Brigade in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
As an Army Commander, he commanded a theatre of operations along the Western Front and was appointed the Vice Chief of the Army Staff before assuming office of Chief of Army Staff.
During the span of 43 years in the Army, General Rawat has been awarded several gallantry and distinguished service awards.
(Source: Wikipedia, IANS)
