Team News Riveting
New Delhi, April 30
General Manoj Chandrashekhar Pande on Saturday took over as the 29th Chief of the Army Staff after incumbent General M M Naravane retired from service.
Honoured with PVSM, AVSM, VSM, General Pande, who was serving as the Vice Chief, became the first-ever officer from the Corps of Engineers, also known as Bombay sappers, to take the reins of the 1.3 million-strong force.
He becomes the first Combat Engineer officer to hold command of the army. The Corps of Engineer was raised by the British in 1777.
General Pande was born on May 6, 1962 and in December 1982 was commissioned into the Bombay Sappers, which is a regiment of the Corps of Engineers. On May 31, 2024, he will retire, as the chiefs of the three services retire at the age of 62.
He had held several prestigious command and staff assignments in conventional as well as counter-insurgency operations across all types of terrain. He commanded an engineer regiment along the Line of Control during operation Parakram in Jammu and Kashmir, an engineer brigade in the western sector, an infantry brigade along LoC and a mountain division in high altitude area of western Ladakh and a Corps in the Northeast.
His staff exposures include Brigade Major of a Mountain Brigade in the North East, Assistant Military Secretary (AMS) in the Military Secretary’s Branch and Brigadier General Staff (Operations) at headquarters of Eastern Command. The General Officer has served as chief engineer in the United Nations mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea. He has also served as the additional director general in the military operations directorate at Army headquarters and as chief of staff, at headquarters of the Southern Command.
