Bipin Rawat

General Bipin Rawat (16 March 1958 – 8 December 2021) was an Indian military officer who was a four-star general of the Indian Army. He served as the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Indian Armed Forces from January 2020 until his death in a helicopter crash in December 2021. Prior to taking over as the CDS, he served as the 57th Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (Chairman COSC) of the Indian Armed Forces as well as 27th Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) of the Indian Army.

Born in Pauri, Pauri Garhwal district in present-day Uttarakhand to Lieutenant General Lakshman Singh Rawat, he graduated from the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy where he was awarded the Sword of Honour. He was commissioned into his father's unit - 11 Gorkha Rifles. He served during the 1987 Sino-Indian skirmish in the Sumdorong Chu valley. He commanded a company in Uri and his battalion - 5/11 GR along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh. Promoted to the rank of Brigadier, he commanded 5 sector Rashtriya Rifles in Sopore. He subsequently served with the United Nations as the Commander of a Multinational Brigade as part of MONUSCO.

Promoted to general officer, Rawat commanded the 19 Infantry Division at Uri. He then served as the Major General General Staff (MGGS) at Headquarters Eastern Command. In 2014, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and appointed General officer commanding (GOC) III Corps at Dimapur. During this tenure, the 2015 Indian counter-insurgency operation in Myanmar took place where units under his command executed cross-border strikes against the NSCN-K. In early 2016, Rawat was promoted to Army Commander grade and appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command. After a short stint, he moved to Army HQ as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff. In December that year, he was appointed the next Chief of the Army Staff superseding two senior generals. As the senior-most chief of staff amongst the three services, he served as the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee of the Indian Armed Forces from September 2019 to December 2021. He was appointed as the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Indian Armed Forces in January 2020 and served until his death in December 2021.

During Rawat's tenure as the COAS, in 2017, a 73-day military border standoff happened at Doklam between the Indian Armed Forces and the People's Liberation Army.

Early life and career

Bipin Rawat was born in Pauri town of Pauri Garhwal district, present-day Uttarakhand state, on 16 March 1958 to a Hindu Garhwali Rajput family. His family had been serving in the Indian Army for multiple generations.

Rawat's father, Lakshman Singh Rawat (1930–2015), was from Sainj village of the Pauri Garhwal district; commissioned into 3/11 Gorkha Rifles in 1951, he retired as Deputy Chief of the Army Staff in 1988 in the rank of Lieutenant General. His mother was from the Uttarkashi district and was the daughter of Kishan Singh Parmar, the ex-Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Uttarkashi.

Rawat was educated at Cambrian Hall School in Dehradun, and at St. Edward's School, Shimla. He then joined the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, and the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, from where he graduated first in the order of merit and was awarded the 'Sword of Honour.'

Rawat was also a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington, and the Higher Command Course at the United States Army Command and General Staff College (USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1997. From his tenure at the DSSC, he obtained an MPhil degree in Defence Studies as well as diplomas in Management and Computer Studies from the University of Madras. In 2011, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut, for his research on military-media strategic studies.

Military career

Early career

Rawat was commissioned into the 5th battalion, the 11 Gorkha Rifles (5/11 GR) on 16 December 1978, the same unit as his father. During the 1987 Sino-Indian skirmish in the Sumdorong Chu valley, then Captain Rawat's battalion was deployed against the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The standoff was the first military confrontation along the disputed McMahon Line after the 1962 war.

Early in his career, Rawat had an instructional tenure at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. He had much experience in high-altitude warfare and spent ten years conducting counter-insurgency operations. He commanded a company in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir as a Major. He attended the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. After the course, he was appointed General Staff Officer, Grade 2 (GSO2) at the Military Operations Directorate at Army headquarters. He also served as a logistics staff officer of a Re-organised Army Plains Infantry Division (RAPID) in Central India. He attended the Higher Command Course at the United States Army Command and General Staff College (USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

As a colonel, Rawat commanded his battalion, the 5th battalion, the 11 Gorkha Rifles, in the eastern sector along the Line of Actual Control at Kibithu. For his command of 5/11 GR, he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal on 26 January 2001. He also served as Colonel Military Secretary (Col MS) and Deputy Military Secretary in the Military Secretary's Branch and as a Senior Instructor in the Junior Command Wing.

On 26 January 2005, he was awarded the Sena Medal for devotion to duty. Promoted to the rank of Brigadier, he commanded 5 Sector Rashtriya Rifles in Sopore. He was awarded the Yudh Seva Medal for his command of 5 Sector RR.

UN mission in Congo

Rawat commanded MONUSCO (a Multinational Brigade in a Chapter VII mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Within two weeks of deployment in the DRC, the Brigade faced a major offensive in the east which threatened the regional capital of North Kivu, Goma. The offensive also threatened to destabilise the country as a whole. The situation demanded a rapid response and North Kivu Brigade was reinforced, where it was responsible for over 7,000 men and women, representing nearly half of the total MONUSCO force. Whilst simultaneously engaged in offensive kinetic operations against the CNDP and other armed groups, Rawat (then Brigadier) carried out tactical support to the Congolese Army (FARDC), He sensitised programmes with the local population and detailed coordination to ensure that all were informed about the situation and worked together in the progress of operations. He was responsible for the protection of the vulnerable population.

This operational period lasted for four months. Goma never fell, the East stabilized and the main armed group was motivated to the negotiating table and has since been integrated into the FARDC. He was also tasked to present the Revised Charter of Peace Enforcement to the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General and Force Commanders of all the UN missions in a special conference at Wilton Park, London, on 16 May 2009. Rawat was twice awarded the Force Commander's Commendation.

General officer

After promotion to Major General, Rawat took over as the General Officer Commanding 19th Infantry Division (Uri). For his command of the Dagger Division, as the 19th Infantry Division is called, he was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal on 26 January 2013. He subsequently served as the Major General General Staff (MGGS) of the Eastern Command.

2015 Myanmar strikes

Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General, he was appointed General Officer Commanding III Corps, headquartered in Dimapur. In June 2015, eighteen Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush by militants belonging to the United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia (UNLFW) in Manipur. The Indian Army responded with cross-border strikes in which units of the 21st battalion of the Parachute Regiment struck an NSCN-K base in Myanmar. 21 Para was under the operational control of the Dimapur based III Corps, which was then commanded by Rawat. For his command of III Corps, he was awarded the Uttam Yudh Seva Medal on 26 January 2016.

Army Commander

After relinquishing command of III Corps, Rawat was appointed General Officer Commanding Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa Area, headquartered in Mumbai.After a short stint, he was promoted to the Army Commander grade and assumed the post of General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Southern Command on 1 January 2016. After an eight-month tenure, he assumed the post of Vice Chief of the Army Staff on 1 September 2016.

Chief of the Army Staff

On 17 December 2016, the Government of India appointed Rawat as the 27th Chief of the Army Staff, superseding two more senior Lieutenant Generals, Praveen Bakshi (Eastern Army Commander) and P. M. Hariz (Southern Army Commander). The appointment made by NDA ruled Government was politically controversial. Rawat was accused of nepotism and gratuitously politicising the appointment, by the senior serving and retired military officers.

He took office of Chief of the Army Staff as the 27th COAS on 31 December 2016, after retirement of General Dalbir Singh Suhag. He was the third officer from the Gorkha Brigade to become the Chief of the Army Staff, after Sam Manekshaw and Suhag.