Manoj Mukund Naravane

General Manoj Mukund Naravane (born 22 April 1960) PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC is a Four Star general of the Indian Army and the 28th Chief of the Army Staff (COAS).[4] He took over from General Bipin Rawat on 31 December 2019 after the latter completed his term as the COAS. Prior to his appointment as the COAS, the general served as the 40th Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) of the Indian Army, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of Eastern Command and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Army Training Command.[5][6]

General M M Naravane PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC
Gen M M Naravane after taking over as the 28th COAS, at South Block
28th Chief of the Army Staff
Incumbent
Assumed office 31 December 2019
President	Ram Nath Kovind
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Preceded by	Bipin Rawat
40th Vice Chief of the Army Staff
In office 1 September 2019 – 31 December 2019
President	Ram Nath Kovind
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Preceded by	Devraj Anbu
Succeeded by	Satinder Kumar Saini[1]
Personal details
Born	(1960-04-22) 22 April 1960[2] Pune, Bombay State, India
Military service
Allegiance	India
Branch/service	Indian Army
Years of service	June 1980 – present
Rank	General
Unit	7 Sikh Light Infantry
Commands	Eastern Command ARTRAC Kharga Corps HQ IGAR (North) 106 Infantry Brigade 2 RR (SikhLI)
Service number	IC-38750H[3]
Awards	Param Vishisht Seva Medal Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Sena Medal Vishisht Seva Medal

Early Life and education

Naravane hails from a Marathi Brahmin family.[7][8] His father, Mukund Naravane, is a former officer in the Indian Air Force who retired in the rank of Wing Commander and his mother Sudha was an announcer with the All India Radio.[9][10] He completed his schooling at the Jnana Prabodhini Prashala in Pune.

Naravane is an alumnus of National Defence Academy, Pune and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. He also holds a master's degree in Defence Studies from University of Madras, Chennai and an M.Phil. in Defence and Management Studies from Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore. Naravane has attended the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and the Army War College, Mhow.[11][12]

Career

Naravane was commissioned into 7th battalion The Sikh Light Infantry in June 1980. He has commanded the 2nd Battalion (SikhLi) of Rashtriya Rifles in Jammu and Kashmir as well as the 106 Infantry brigade. He has also commanded the Assam Rifles as Inspector General (North) in Kohima, Nagaland. He has served in Counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and Northeast India, as well as the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka during Operation Pawan.[4]

His staff assignments include tenures as a Brigade Major of an Infantry Brigade, Assistant Adjutant & Quartermaster General (AA&QMG) of Headquarters Establishment No. 22. The General has also served as the Military attaché to Myanmar at Yangon.[13][14][15]

In addition, he served in an instructional appointment at the Army War College, Mhow as Directing Staff in the Higher Command Wing and two tenures at the Integrated Defence Staff Headquarters of Ministry of Defence, New Delhi.[16]

Lt Gen Naravane as GOC-in-C Eastern Command in early 2019

General Naravane in 2020

On promotion to the rank of Lieutenant General, he commanded the Ambala-based Kharga Strike Corps and served as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) Delhi Area. As GOC Delhi Area, he commanded the 2017 Republic Day Parade.[17][18]

After being promoted to Army Commander grade, Naravane served as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Army Training Command from 1 December 2017 to 30 September 2018. Later, he also served as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command from 1 October 2018 to 31 August 2019, succeeding Lt Gen Abhay Krishna.[5][6][12][11]

On 1 September 2019, he was appointed Vice Chief of the Army Staff (VCOAS) when Lt Gen Devraj Anbu retired on 31 August, and became the senior-most serving general after General Bipin Rawat.[19] On 16 December 2019 (Vijay Diwas eve) he was announced as the successor of General Rawat, who will relinquish the office of COAS on 31 December 2019.[20][21]

General Naravane is the 3rd officer from the Sikh Light Infantry to become Chief of the Army Staff , the other officers from this regiment were the 19th COAS General Ved Prakash Malik and the 25th COAS General Bikram Singh.[22]

Personal life

Naravane hails from Pune, Maharashtra. He likes painting, yoga and gardening. His wife, Mrs. Veena Naravane is a teacher with 25 years of experience. She is the president of Army Wives Welfare Association. They have two daughters.[11]

Honours and decorations

During his career, he has been awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (2019), Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (2017), Sena Medal, Vishist Seva Medal (2015), and the CoAS commendation card for his service.[3][23][11][24] He is also the Colonel of the Regiment of the Sikh Light Infantry, he took over this honour from previous colonel of the Regiment Lt Gen Devraj Anbu post his retirement.

Param Vishisht Seva Medal		Ati Vishisht Seva Medal
Sena Medal	Vishisht Seva Medal	Samanya Seva Medal
Special Service Medal	Operation Parakram Medal	Sainya Seva Medal	Videsh Seva Medal
50th Anniversary of Independence Medal	30 Years Long Service Medal	20 Years Long Service Medal	9 Years Long Service Medal

Dates of rank

Insignia	Rank	Component	Date of rank
	Second Lieutenant	Indian Army	7 June 1980[25]
	Lieutenant	Indian Army	7 June 1982[26]
	Captain	Indian Army	7 June 1985[27]
	Major	Indian Army	7 June 1991[28]
	Lieutenant-Colonel	Indian Army	31 December 2002[29]
	Colonel	Indian Army	1 February 2005[30]
	Brigadier	Indian Army	19 July 2010 (substantive, seniority from 13 January 2008)[31]
	Major General	Indian Army	1 January 2013 (substantive, seniority from 7 April 2011)[32]
	Lieutenant-General	Indian Army	10 November 2015 (substantive)[33]
	General (COAS)	Indian Army	31 December 2019

References

1. "Lt Gen SK Saini appointed Vice Chief of Indian Army | Pune News - Times of India".
2. "Lt Gen Manoj Naravane to succeed Gen Bipin Rawat as next army chief". Hindustan Times. 16 December 2019.
3. "Press Information Bureau". pib.nic.in.
4. "Lt Gen M.M. Naravane appointed as Chief of Army Staff". 17 December 2019.
5. "Lt Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane takes over as GOC-in-C of Indian Army's Eastern Command". The New Indian Express.
6. "Lt Gen Naravane relinquishes charge of Eastern Command, to take over as VCOAS". 31 August 2019.
7. "Interesting facts about Lieutenant General Manoj Mukund Naravane who is becoming the new army chief". Business Insider. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
8. टीम, एबीपी माझा वेब (16 December 2019). "महाराष्ट्राचे सुपूत्र मनोज नरवणे होणार लष्करप्रमुख". marathi.abplive.com.
9. "Pune: Studious and humble, recall next Army chief's classmates and teacher". The Times of India.
10. "Lt Gen MM Naravane, other two military chiefs have two things in common". Hindustan Times. 18 December 2019.
11. "Lt Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane takes over Gen officer Commanding-in-chief of ARTRAC". Archived from the original on 4 December 2017.
12. "Lt Gen Naravane takes over as ARTRAC chief". Archived from the original on 3 December 2017.
13. "Lt Gen Naravane takes over as ARTRAC chief". Archived from the original on 3 December 2017.
14. "Lt Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane takes over Gen officer Commanding-in-chief of ARTRAC". Archived from the original on 4 December 2017.
15. "In break from past, Lt Gen doesn't stand behind Prime Minister during speech". The Indian Express. 16 August 2017. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
16. "Lt Gen M.M. Naravane appointed as Chief of Army Staff". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
17. News18 (25 January 2017). "#RepublicDay 2017 Parade is commanded by Lt. Gen. Manoj Mukund Naravane,Sena Medal,Vishisht Seva Medal General Officer Commanding,Delhi Areapic.twitter.com/LBSSwAOQho". @CNNnews18. Archived from the original on 4 December 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
18. "Press Information Bureau". Archived from the original on 4 December 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
19. Gurung, Shaurya Karanbir (23 July 2019). "Naravane appointed as new Vice Chief of Indian Army, four army commanders appointed". The Economic Times. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
20. "Lt Gen MM Naravane to be next Army Chief". www.aninews.in. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
21. "Lt Gen MM Naravane assumes appointment of VCOAS". Press Information Bureau, Government of India. 1 September 2019.
22. Peri, Dinakar (16 December 2019). "Lt. Gen. Manoj Mukund Naravane to be next Army Chief". The Hindu. He will be the third Army Chief from the Sikh Light regiment after Gen VP Malik and Gen Bikram Singh.
23. "Press Information Bureau". Archived from the original on 13 October 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
24. "Ashok Chakra Awarded to NK Neeraj Kumar Singh of 13 Rajputana Rifles (Posthumous) 374 Republic Day Gallantry and Other Defence Decorations Announced". pib.nic.in. Archived from the original on 4 December 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
25. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 16 May 1981. p. 674.
26. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 11 December 1982. p. 1514.
27. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 7 June 1986. p. 924.
28. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 25 April 1992. p. 813.
29. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 31 July 2004. p. 1053.
30. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 25 March 2006. p. 411.
31. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 5 May 2012. p. 636.
32. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 22 March 2014. p. 428.
33. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 20 February 2016. p. 478.

Media related to Manoj Mukund Naravane at Wikimedia Commons

Military offices
Preceded by Bipin Rawat	Chief of the Army Staff 31 December 2019 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Devraj Anbu	Vice Chief of the Army Staff 1 September 2019 – 30 December 2019	Succeeded by Satinder Kumar Saini
Preceded by Abhay Krishna	General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command 1 October 2018 – 31 August 2019	Succeeded by Anil Chauhan
Preceded by Dewan Rabindranath Soni	General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Army Training Command 1 December 2017 – 30 September 2018	Succeeded by Pattacheruvanda C Thimayya
Preceded by Vijay Singh	General Officer Commanding Delhi Area January 2017- 30 November 2017	Succeeded by Asit Mistry
Preceded by Amarjeet Singh	General Officer Commanding Kharga Corps January 2016 - January 2017	Succeeded by Jaiveer Singh Negi