Who is Lt General SK Saini? The next Vice Chief of Army Staff
Lieutenant General Satinder Kumar Saini, AVSM, YSM, VSM who is currently serving as the Southern Army Commander will take charge as the next Vice Chief of the Army Staff on January 25, a day before the Republic Day. Lt General Saini was commissioned into the 7th battalion, Jat Regiment in June 1981. His commands include 7 Jat, a Mountain Brigade in the Kashmir Valley, Counter Insurgency Force and IX Corps.
The general has also held numerous staff appointments including Brigade Major of an infantry brigade, General Staff Officer (Operations) of an infantry division, BGS of a Corps, Director of Military Operations at Army HQ; Director-General, Manpower Planning and Personnel Services (MP&PS). He has held different instructor appointments including Senior Directing Staff at National Defence College, Weapons Instructor at National Security Guards Training Center and the Commandant of the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. He is also the Colonel of the Jat Regiment.
General Saini has served on international deputations as well including Deputy Chief Military Personnel Officer in the Iraq- Kuwait UN Mission; Global Peace Operations Initiative's peacekeeping exercise in Mongolia; a counter-terrorism exercise in Australia.
During 36 years of his career, he has been awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (2018), the Yudh Seva Medal, the Vishisht Seva Medal, the Chief of Army Staff Commendation and the Army Commander Commendation for his service.
Honours and Decorations
Honours and Decorations
He is an alumnus of Sainik School, Kapurthala, National Defence Academy, Pune; and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. He has also attended the Army Command and Staff Course at Staff College, Camberley; Royal Military College of Science, Shrivenham; and National Defence College, Dhaka. He has a total of three degrees in defence and strategic studies.
He will be India's 41st Vice Chief of the Army Staff after General MM Naravane, who was the previous deputy to the Chief became the Chief.
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