General Bipin Rawat ~ Our First Chief Of Defence Staff

 

    

              Heroes Get  Remembered  , But Legends Never Die

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 chief of staff committee  as well as 26th chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army .

He was born in Pauri town of Pauri Garhwal district, modern-day Uttarakhand  state , on 16 March 1958.He attended Cambrian Hall School in Dehradun  and St. Edward's School in Shimla .  He then joined the National Defence Academy  , Khadakwasla  and the Indian Military Academy , from where he graduated first in the order of merit and was awarded the 'Sword of Honour'.

He 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 Somdorong Chu  valley, then his  battalion was deployed against the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army .  The standoff was the first military confrontation along the disputed Mc Mohan Line  after the 1962 war .

He has 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. As a colonel, he commanded his battalion, the 5th Battalion, the 11 Gorkha Rifles  in the eastern sector along the Line of actual control at Kibithu . Promoted to the rank of Brigadier . He commanded 5 Sector of Rashtriya Rifles  in Sopore.

He is also in UN mission in Congo .Rawat commanded MONUSCO (a Multinational Brigade in a Chapter VII mission in the Democratic Republic of 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 destabilize 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, he carried out tactical support to the Congolese Army (FARDC), He sensitization 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. He was twice awarded the Force Commander’s Commendation.

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 3 corps , which was then commanded by Rawat sir .

On 17 December 2016, the Government of India appointed Rawat sir  as the 27th Chief of the Army Staff.

He served as the first Chief Of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Indian Armed Forces  from January 2020 until his death in December 2021.India as of 2021 had service–specific commands system , Joint  and integrated commands, also known as unified commands  and further divided into theatre or functional commands, have been set up and more are proposed. In February 2020, he said two to five theatre commands  may be set up. The completion of the creation of theatre commands, both integrated and joint commands, will take a number of years. Indian Air Force opposed the formation of unified theatre commands citing limitation of resources.

On 8 December 2021, he, his wife and members of his staff were amongst 10 passengers and 4 crew members aboard an Indian Air force  helicopter flight en route from the Sulur Air force Base  to the Defence services staff college  (DSSC), Wellington, where he  was to deliver a lecture. At around 12:10 p.m. local time, the aircraft crashed near a residential colony of private tea estate employees on the outskirts of the hamlet of Nanjappachatiram, bandishola  panchayat, in the Katteri-Nanchappanchathram area of Coonoor  taluk, Niligiris district. The crash site was 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the flight's intended destination. His  death – and those of his wife and 11 others – was later confirmed by the Indian. his liaison officer, Group Captain Varun Singh  was the sole survivor. He was 63 at the time of his death.

He and his wife were cremated according to Hindu rituals with full military honours and 17 Guns salute at Brar square crematorium in Delhi Cantonment  on 10 December 2021. Their cremation was carried out by their daughters, who took their ashes to Haridwar and immersed them in the Ganges at the Har Ki Pauri Ghat  on 12 December.

He was a person who had given 38 years of his life to the country , he was a true patriot and every citizen of  this nation  always gonna remember what he has done for this country .

JAI HIND ! 

JAI BHARAT !