A look at Gen Bipin Rawat's 4-decade long illustrious military career serving the nation

In an unspeakable tragedy, India on December 8 lost its first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Bipin Rawat, to an unfortunate chopper crash in Tamil Nadu. Losing all communication, an Indian Air Force (IAF) Mi-17 V5 helicopter carrying 14 people crashed in Coonoor on Wednesday afternoon leaving behind a lone survivor whose condition continues to remain critical. As the nation mourns the tragic loss, here is a look at General Bipin Rawat's illustrious 4-decade long military career and some of the revolutionary ideas that he ushered in as India's first Chief of Defence Staff. 

General Bipin Rawat's military career 

General Bipin Laxman Singh Rawat was born on March 16, 1958, in Pauri, Uttarakhand to a family that had served in the Indian Army over multiple generations. He graduated from the National Defence Academy in 1978 after which he was commissioned into the Fifth Battalion of the Eleventh Gorkha Rifles of the Infantry, the Battalion which was Commanded by his father Lt. General Laxman Singh Rawat.

One of his life's first important roles came was when he was asked to helm the Infantry Battalion along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Eastern Sector. His battalion was deployed in the strategic Sumdorong Chu valley during the 1987 Sino-Indian skirmish. Thereafter, he was assigned to command an Infantry Division along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and was Corps Commander in the North-East.

In his celebrated military career spanning 42 years, General Bipin Rawat held multiple portfolios as the General Staff Officer at Military Operations Directorate, the Colonel and later Deputy Military Secretary in the Military Secretary's Branch, the Major General Staff of the Eastern Theatre, Vice Chief of the Army Staff. Between December 31, 2016, to December 31, 2019, he served as the Chief of the Army Staff. 

Role as India's first CDS

In 2019, the government issued a notification amending the Army Rules 1954, paving the way for General Rawat to take charge as the new Chief of Defence Staff. On 31 December 2019, General Bipin Rawat was appointed as India's first Chief of Defence Staff and he assumed office from 1 January 2020.

One of the most revolutionary steps taken during his tenure as the CDS was the introduction of integrated theatre commands. General Rawat worked on the theaterisation model under which at least six new integrated commands, under a larger mandate of ensuring synergy among the three service chiefs, would be set up to deal with future security challenges.

As per the plan, each of the theatre commands will have units of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, all working as an integrated 'single' entity. 

Image: PTI