NEW DELHI: Lieutenant General Devendra Pratap Pandey will be the new Chinar Corps (XV Corps) of the Indian Army. The officer is detailed to assume charge soon from Lt Gen BS Raju due for his headquarter posting at New Delhi.
Confirming the development sources told that the posting was confirmed on Friday night and the officer will be taking charge in the mid of March month.
Lt Gen BS Raju will be joining the Army headquarters as the Director General Military Operations as the previous incumbent Lt Gen Paramjit Singh Sangha took over as the Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Strategy) last week.
Lt General DP Pandey is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned into the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment in December 1985 from Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. He belongs to Amahiya near Gorakhpur District of Uttar Pradesh where his father was a Professor in Gorakhpur University. The son of the officer is also serving in Army as an officer.
Lt General Pandey attended the prestigious strategic leadership institution -- National Defence College (NDC). The General also has completed the National Security Strategy course from National War College, National Defence University.
He Qualified in Mountain Warfare courses and had multiple tenures in High Altitude Areas and has commanded his Battalion in Siachen Glacier and Chushul Sector. The officer is well verse with counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations as he commanded a Rashtriya Rifles Sector and a Counter Insurgency Force in the Kashmir Valley.
He has been an Instructor and Assistant Adjutant of The National Defence Academy and Brigade Major of a Brigade in High Altitude Area during Operation Vijay (Kargil). He has held numerous prestigious staff appointments which includes Director in Infantry Directorate and Director, Foreign Division in MI Directorate, IHQ of MoD Army, BGS (Ops) at HQ Western Command, Chandimandir and BGS at Chetak Corps and Additional Director General of Public Information.
He has been the first Director General of Territorial Army. In his long 35 years career till now the officer the officer has been decorated with Ati Vishist Seva Medal and Vishist Seva Medal besides numerous other awards.
The XV Corps is strategically located at Srinagar and is entrusted with the responsibility of handling vigilance along 343 km of the Line of Control and hinterland operation in the hinterland of the valley of Kashmir thus covering span from North of Pir Panjal to Zoji La Pass.