Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 30

Lt Gen Ranbir Singh has been appointed the new Northern Army Commander. He replaces Lt Gen Devraj Anbu, who has been shifted as Vice-Chief of the Indian Army.Lt Gen Singh, 58, who belongs to Jalandhar, was the Director General Military Operations (DGMO) when India carried out the surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC), destroying terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on September 29, 2016. He has also had stints as Colonel and Brigadier in the military operations directorate that oversees and coordinates all operations and troop movements.Lt Gen Singh, along with Lt Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane, who now heads the Army Training Command at Shimla, are likely to be the front-runners for the Army Chief’s post when General Bipin Rawat ends his tenure in December 2019. Lt Gen Naravane is senior to Lt Gen Singh.Lt Gen Anbu from the Sikh Light Infantry moves to Delhi. The Vice-Chief is the head of all policy and planning of the 1.3 million-strong Army. The current Vice-Chief, Lt Gen Sarath Chand, retires on Thursday.Commissioned in December 1980 into the 9 Battalion of the Dogra Regiment that draws its troops from Himachal Pradesh and parts of Jammu region, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh commanded the same unit. Presently posted at Army Headquarters as the Deputy Chief of Army Staff, he had earlier commanded the Mathura-based 1 Strike Corps, a strike formation.One of his most significant appointments was the General Officer Commanding of the 33 Armoured Division based at Hisar in 2012. According to his course mates, he is probably the first infantry officer after the late General K Sundarji to command an armoured formation.An alumnus of the Sainik School, Kapurthala, and the National Defence Academy, Kharakvasla, he also attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in the UK for a year-long course and served with UN missions in Angola and Rwanda.As Commander of the 181 Mountain Brigade in the North-East, he was decorated with the Yudh Seva Medal in 2010. The other awards include the Sena Medal and a bar to the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2015 and 2018.These two new appointments are the first in the series of changes in the top structure of the Army this year. Three Army Commanders — Lt Gen DR Soni, Southern Army Commander; Lt Gen BS Negi, Central Army Commander; and Lt General Satish Dua, who heads tri-service organisation — retire this year.