Vice Chief of the Army Staff (India)
Vice Chief of the Army Staff | |
---|---|
Indian Army | |
Status | Second in command |
Abbreviation | VCOAS |
Reports to | Chief of the Army Staff |
Seat | Army HQ, New Delhi |
Appointer | ACC |
Constituting instrument | Army Act, 1950 (Act No. 46 of 1950) |
Formation | 15 January 1965 |
First holder | P. P. Kumaramangalam |
The Vice Chief of the Army Staff (VCOAS) is the deputy head and second-highest-ranking officer of the Indian Army. The VCOAS is a PSO (Principal Staff Officer) at Army Headquarters in New Delhi. The office is held by a senior officer in the rank of Lieutenant General, of the Commander-in-Chief (Army Commander) grade. Ten of the forty Vice Chiefs have gone on to head the Indian Army as the Chief of the Army Staff.
The current VCOAS is Lieutenant General Chandi Prasad Mohanty who assumed the office from 1 February 2021.[1][2][3]
History[]
In the British Indian Army, the Chief of the General Staff (CGS) assisted the Commander-in-Chief, India.
After the Independence, the CGS remained the number two officer in the Indian Army below the Commander-in-Chief, India. and later the Chief of Army Staff. In January 1959, the post of Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (DCOAS) was created to replace the CGS at the Army HQ. The DCOAS was the second-in-command and was equivalent to an Army Commander (GOC-in-C). In January 1965, the post became the Vice Chief of the Army Staff, with the DCOAS becoming a PSO appointment.[4][5] Lieutenant General P.P. Kumaramangalam took over as the first VCOAS.
Order of Precedence[]
The VCOAS ranks at No. 23 on the Indian order of precedence, along with the Vice Chiefs of Staff of the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force and the Army Commanders (GOC-in-C), Naval Commanders (FOC-in-C) and Air Commanders (AOC-in-C).[6] The VCOAS is at the Apex Pay grade (Grade 17), with a monthly pay of ₹225,000 (US$3,200).[7]
Appointment[]
The Vice Chief of Army staff is appointed by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, from among the senior general officers of the Army. Since the appointment is of Commander-in-Chief grade, the appointees are usually one of the Army Commanders of the seven commands.
Unlike the Chief of Army Staff, there is no fixed term nor term limit to the position of the VCOAS, although most of those appointed to the office have typically served for two or three year tenures.
Appointees[]
The following table chronicles the appointees to the office of the Vice Chief of the Army Staff.
S.No. | Portrait | Name | Assumed office | Left office | Unit of Commission | COAS | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lieutenant General | 15 January 1965 | 7 June 1966 | Regiment of Artillery | Gen. J. N. Chaudhuri | [8][9] | |
2 | Lieutenant General | 8 June 1966 | 22 November 1970 | East Surrey Regiment | Gen. P. P. Kumaramangalam | [10] | |
Gen. S. H. F. J. Manekshaw | |||||||
3 | Lieutenant General
Har Prasad PVSM |
23 November 1970 | 31 October 1973 | 3rd Cavalry | [11] | ||
Gen. G. G. Bewoor | |||||||
4 | Lieutenant General
M. L. Thapan PVSM |
1 November 1973 | 31 July 1974 | Jat Regiment | [12] | ||
5 | Lieutenant General | 1 August 1974 | 31 December 1975 | 12th Frontier Force | [13] | ||
Gen. T. N. Raina | |||||||
6 | Lieutenant General
A. M. Vohra PVSM |
1 January 1976 | 19 January 1977 | 3rd Gorkha Rifles | [14] | ||
7 | Lieutenant General | 20 January 1977 | 31 May 1978 | Regiment of Artillery | [15] | ||
8 | Lieutenant General | 1 July 1978 | 31 January 1980 | The Grenadiers | Gen. O. P. Malhotra | [16][17] | |
9 | Lieutenant General | 1 February 1980 | 6 July 1980 | Punjab Regiment | |||
10 | Lieutenant General | 7 July 1980 | 31 December 1982 | 6th Rajputana Rifles | [18] | ||
Gen. K. V. Krishna Rao | |||||||
11 | Lieutenant General | 1 January 1983 | 1 June 1983 | Jat Regiment | [19][20][21] | ||
12 | Lieutenant General | 5 August 1983 | 31 December 1984 | 5th Gorkha Rifles (FF) | Gen. A. S. Vaidya | [22][23] | |
13 | Lieutenant General | 13 February 1985 | 31 January 1986 | 2 Mahar Regiment | [24][25] | ||
14 | Lieutenant General | 1 February 1986 | 31 May 1987 | Regiment of Artillery | Gen. KS Sundarji | ||
15 | Lieutenant General | 1 June 1987 | 31 August 1987 | Regiment of Artillery | [26] | ||
16 | Lieutenant General | 1 November 1987 | 20 April 1989 | Regiment of Artillery | [27] | ||
Gen. V. N. Sharma | |||||||
17 | Lieutenant General | 15 May 1989 | 29 February 1992 | Dogra Regiment | [28] | ||
Gen. S. F. Rodrigues | |||||||
18 | Lieutenant General
Vijai Singh PVSM |
1 March 1992 | 30 June 1993 | 8th Light Cavalry | [29] | ||
19 | Lieutenant General | 1 July 1993 | 30 June 1995 | Regiment of Artillery | Gen. B. C. Joshi | ||
Gen. S. R. Chowdhary | |||||||
20 | Lieutenant General | 1 July 1995 | 31 July 1996 | Poona Horse | [30] | ||
21 | Lieutenant General | 1 August 1996 | 30 September 1997 | Sikh Light Infantry | |||
22 | Lieutenant General | 1 October 1997 | 30 September 2000 | 4th Gorkha Rifles | Gen. V. P. Malik | [31] | |
23 | Lieutenant General | 1 October 2000 | 30 September 2001 | Maratha Light Infantry | Gen. S. Padmanabhan | [32][33] | |
24 | Lieutenant General | 1 October 2001 | 31 December 2002 | 4 Dogra Regiment | [34] | ||
25 | Lieutenant General | 1 January 2003 | 31 December 2004 | Regiment of Artillery | Gen. N. C. Vij | [35][36] | |
26 | Lieutenant General | 15 January 2005 | 30 September 2005 | Central India Horse | [37][38] | ||
Gen. J. J. Singh | |||||||
27 | Lieutenant General | 1 October 2005 | 31 December 2006 | Bombay Sappers | [39][40] | ||
28 | Lieutenant General | 1 January 2007 | 30 September 2007 | Regiment of Artillery | [41][42] | ||
29 | Lieutenant General | 1 October 2007 | 31 December 2008 | Rajput Regiment | Gen. Deepak Kapoor | [43][44][45] | |
30 | Lieutenant General | 1 January 2008 | 30 September 2009 | Bombay Sappers | [46][47][48] | ||
31 | Lieutenant General | 1 October 2009 | 30 November 2010 | Parachute Regiment | [49][50][51] | ||
Gen. V. K. Singh | |||||||
32 | Lieutenant General | 6 December 2010 | 30 September 2011 | Regiment of Artillery | [52][53] | ||
33 | Lieutenant General | 1 October 2011 | 31 December 2013 | 8th Gorkha Rifles | [54] | ||
Gen. Bikram Singh | |||||||
34 | Lieutenant General | 1 January 2014 | 31 July 2014 | 5th Gorkha Rifles (FF) | [55] | ||
35 | Lieutenant General | 1 August 2014 | 31 July 2015 | 9th Gorkha Rifles | Gen. Dalbir Singh | [56][57] | |
36 | Lieutenant General | 1 August 2015 | 31 July 2016 | Bombay Sappers | [58] | ||
37 | Lieutenant General | 1 September 2016 | 31 December 2016 | 11th Gorkha Rifles | [59] | ||
38 | Lieutenant General | 13 January 2017 | 31 May 2018 | Garhwal Rifles | Gen. Bipin Rawat | [60] | |
39 | Lieutenant General | 1 June 2018 | 31 August 2019 | Sikh Light Infantry | [61] | ||
40 | Lieutenant General | 1 September 2019 | 30 December 2019 | Sikh Light Infantry | [62] | ||
41 | Lieutenant General | 25 January 2020 | 31 January 2021 | Jat Regiment | Gen. M. M. Naravane | [63] | |
42 | Lieutenant General | 1 February 2021 | Incumbent | Rajput Regiment | [64] |
See also[]
Notes[]
1.^ Later promoted to the post of General and the Chief of Army Staff.
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