In a series of changes in the top brass of the Army, Lt. Gen. S.S. Mahal assumed command of the Army’s training command (ARTRAC) at Shimla following the retirement of incumbent Lt. Gen. Raj Shukla on March 31.
With this Vice Chief Lt. Gen. Manoj Pande is the seniormost officer after Army Chief Gen. M.M. Naravane and in line for the top post as per seniority principle when the incumbent completes tenure at the end of this month.
The Government is yet to announce the next Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), the top military officer of the country, which has fallen vacant following the untimely demise of Gen. Bipin Rawat in a chopper crash on December 08.
In other appointments, Lt. Gen. C. Bansi Ponnappa took over as Adjutant General of the Army while Lt Gen J. P. Mathew who was commanding the Dimapur based 3-Corps took over as the General Officer Commanding Uttar Bharat area.
Vice-Admiral Sanjay Mahindru assumed charge as Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff from Vice Adm Ravneet Singh.
In Pune, Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar assumed appointment of Commandant, National Defence Academy (NDA) from Air Marshal Sanjeev Kapoor.
In addition, Lt. Gen. M. K. Katiyar is set to take over as the Director General of Military Operations on April 30 from Lt. Gen. B. S. Raju who will take over as an Army Commander.
