Lt- General CP Mohanty to be the new vice-chief of Army Staff

Lieutenant General Chandi Prasad Mohanty on February 1, 2021, will take over as the next vice-chief of Army Staff. Currently, he is the Southern Army Commander and will be succeeding Lt General SK Saini.

Lt General CP Mohanty is an alumnus of Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun, and National Defence Academy. He is a June 1982 batch Infantry Officer from the Rajput Regiment.

Lieutenant General Mohanty has served across a wide spectrum of terrain and conflicts, along the fronts with both Pakistan and China. He has also been a part of the counter-terror operations in the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir.

Vice-Chief of Army Staff is the deputy head and the second-highest-ranking officer of the Indian Army. The position is held by the senior officer in the rank of Lt-General, of the Commander in Chief grade.

Lt Gen CP Mohanty to take over as the next Vice Chief of Army Staff on February 1st. He is presently the Southern Army Commander and would be succeeding Lt Gen SK Saini on his superannuation. pic.twitter.com/8KctnlIWYb

— ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2021

Military career of Lt General Mohanty: Key Details

• He has had vast logistics, operational and administrative experience in the varied command as well as staff appointments.

• Mohanty had commanded his Battalion in North East and Jammu and Kashmir, a Mountain Division in Counter Insurgency Operations in North East and a Mountain Brigade along the Indo-China Border.

• Later, Lt General Mohanty also commanded a strategically significant Corps in the Eastern Theatre post-Doklam incident and Uttar Bharat Area at Bareilly.

• The Lieutenant-General has vast experience overseas of commanding a multinational brigade in the Republic of Congo apart from being a Military Advisor to the Seychelles government.

• During his tenure, he also held essential staff appointments in an Armoured Brigade and Military Secretary Branch. He was also the Director-General of Operational Logistics and Strategic Movement at the Integrated Headquarters of Defence Ministry in New Delhi.

Educational Background:

Lieutenant General Mohanty is academically inclined and has researched extensively on South Asia, China, and North East India which makes him a domain expert of these regions. He is an M.Phil and Management Degree Holder.

Mohanty is a graduate of Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. He is also an alumnus of the prestigious National Defence College in New Delhi.