Manoj Mukund Naravane

Naravane hails from Maharashtra.[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.[11]

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 and he also pursuing PhD in defence and strategic studies from Punjabi University, Patiala.[12] Naravane has attended the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and the Army War College, Mhow.[13][14]

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.[15][16][17]

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.[18]

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.[19][20]

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][14][13]

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.[21] On 16 December 2019 (Vijay Diwas eve) he was announced as the successor of General Rawat, who relinquished the office of COAS on 31 December 2019.[22][23]

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.[24]

Naravane hails from Pune, Maharashtra. He likes painting, yoga and gardening. His wife, Veena Naravane, is a teacher with 25 years of experience. She is the president of Army Wives Welfare Association. They have two daughters.[13]

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][25][13][26] 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.

Media related to Manoj Mukund Naravane at Wikimedia Commons