BIG: Lt Gen SK Saini to be Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS), first major CDS appointment

In a major development, Lieutenant General S.K. Saini, currently posted as chief of Southern Command, has been announced to be Indian Army’s next vice chief. He will take charge on January 25. The post of the Vice Chief of Army Staff fell vacant after Lt. Gen. Manoj Mukund Naravane became the Chief of Army Staff. This is also the first announcement by former COAS and now the CDS General Bipin Rawat.

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About Lt. Gen. Saini

Lt. Gen. Saini, an alumnus of Sainik School Kapurthala and National Defence Academy,  Khadakwasla was commissioned into 7 JAT in June 1981. He has also commanded his Battalion, a Mountain Brigade, a Counter Insurgency Force in J&K and a Corps in the Western Theatre. He has also been Brigadier General Staff (BGS) of a Corps deployed in J&K.

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The General Officer is a graduate of the Army Command and Staff Course at the Staff College, Camberley in UK and has studied at the Royal College of Military Science, Shrivenham, UK. Earlier, Lt Gen Saini had served as the Deputy Chief Military Personnel Officer in the UN Mission in Iraq and Kuwait.

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