New Delhi: Lt Gen Manoj C Pande, presently Vice Chief of the Army Staff, has been appointed by the Government as the next Chief of the Army Staff with effect from April 30, 2022. He will take over as the 29th Chief of Army Staff (COAS) from the outgoing chief, General MM Naravane. He will become the first commander from the Corps of Engineers to take charge of the force as Army Chief.
Lt Gen Manoj C Pande was commissioned on December 24, 1982 in the Corps of Engineers (The Bombay Sappers) of the Indian Army. During his long and distinguished service spanning over 39 years, he has served in a variety of Command, Staff and Instructional appointments. The Command appointments of Lt Gen Manoj C Pande include Command of an Engineer Brigade in the Western Theatre, as part of Strike Corps and an Infantry Brigade along with Line-of-Control in Jammu & Kashmir. Other important Command appointments include a Mountain Division in the high-altitude area of the Western Ladakh and Command of a Corps, deployed along the LAC and in Counter Insurgency Operations area of Eastern Command.
In the rank of Lt General, the officer has held important appointments including that of Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman & Nicobar Command and as the GOC-in-C of the Eastern Command at Kolkata before getting appointed as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff. He has also served as chief engineer in the UN mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea. He was also additional director-general of military operations at Army Headquarters and chief of staff of Southern Command. He is also the colonel commandant of the Bombay Sappers.
Lt Gen Manoj C Pande is an alumnus of National Defence Academy and has undergone courses at Staff College, Camberley (UK), Army War College, Mhow and National Defence College, New Delhi. For his illustrious service, Lt Gen Manoj C Pande has been conferred with Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal.
