JAGATSINGHPUR/BHUBANESWAR: Lt General Chandi Prasad Mohanty, presently serving as General Officer Commanding in chief of Southern Command, has been appointed as 42nd Vice Chief of Army Staff.
Lt Gen Mohanty is the first Odia officer to be appointed the Vice Chief of Army, second only to the Chief of Army Staff.
Born to Jitendra Kishore Mohanty, a retired government employee and Sarada Kumari Mohanty, a former professor in Odia at SVM College, Lt Gen Mohanty studied till Class VI at Bagashai UP School in Jagatsinghpur.
He then enrolled in Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehradun and joined the National Defence Academy. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in Rajput Regiment in June 1982.
Having served along the borders of Pakistan and China, the illustrious infantry officer was active in counter insurgency operations in Assam and had led a multi-national UN brigade in Congo.
After the Doklam incident, he commanded the XXXIII Corps in the Eastern Command and was then appointed General Officer Commanding, Uttar Bharat Area at Bareilly.
The news also brought cheers to residents of Jayabada village under Jagatsinghpur municipality, his native place.