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Vice Chief of the Army Staff (India)

The Vice Chief of the Army Staff (VCOAS) is a statutory position in the Indian Armed Forces usually held by a three star lieutenant general. As the second highest-ranking officer to serve in the Indian Army, the VCOAS is the deputy professional head of the Indian Army and a senior adviser to the Minister of Defence. The office holder is usually the second most senior army officer unless the Chief of Defence is an army officer.

Eleven of the forty Vice Chiefs have gone on to head the Indian Army as the Chief of the Army Staff.

The current VCOAS is Lieutenant General N. S. Raja Subramani who assumed the office on 1st July 2024.

History

In the British Indian Army, the Chief of the General Staff (CGS) assisted the Commander-in-Chief, India.

After the Independence, the CGS remained the number two officer in the Indian Army below the Commander-in-Chief, India. and later the Chief of Army Staff. In January 1959, the post of Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (DCOAS) was created to replace the CGS at the Army HQ. The DCOAS was the second-in-command and was equivalent to an Army Commander (GOC-in-C).

In January 1965, the CGS post became the Vice Chief of the Army Staff, with the DCOAS becoming a PSO appointment.[1][2]

Lieutenant General P.P. Kumaramangalam took over as the first VCOAS.

Order of Precedence

The VCOAS ranks at No. 23 on the Indian order of precedence, along with the Vice Chiefs of Staff of the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force and the Army Commanders (GOC-in-C), Naval Commanders (FOC-in-C) and Air Commanders (AOC-in-C).[3]

The VCOAS is at the Apex Pay grade (Grade 17), with a monthly pay of ₹225,000 (US$3,200).[4]

Appointment

The Vice Chief of Army staff is appointed by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, from among the senior general officers of the Army. Since the appointment is of Commander-in-Chief grade, the appointees are usually one of the Army Commanders of the seven commands.

Unlike the Chief of Army Staff, there is no fixed term nor term limit to the position of the VCOAS, although most of those appointed to the office have typically served for two or three year tenures.

Appointees

The following table chronicles the appointees to the office of the Vice Chief of the Army Staff.

See also

Notes

1.^ Later promoted to the post of General and the Chief of Army Staff.

References

  1. ^ "Changes in Senior Army Appointments" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 9 December 1958. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Deputy Army Chief Retires" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 18 November 1964. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  3. ^ "President's Secretariat" (PDF). Office of the President of India. Rajya Sabha. 26 August 1979. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  4. ^ "Report of the Seventh Central Pay Commission" (PDF). 20 November 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  5. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 6 February 1965. p. 73.
  6. ^ "INDIAN DELEGATION TO TASHKENT" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in.
  7. ^ "LT. GEN. K.S. KATOCH RETIRES" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in.
  8. ^ "Singapore Defence Minister Leaves for Agra" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in.
  9. ^ "COMMEMORATION OF FRIENDSHIP" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in.
  10. ^ "RMY CHIEF TAKES OVER AS HONORARY COLONEL OF THE GUARDS" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in.
  11. ^ "GENERAL RAINA'S SPECIAL ORDER OF THE DAY" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in.
  12. ^ "LT GENERAL O.P. MALHOTRA DESIGNATED ARMY CHIEF" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in.
  13. ^ "Lt-Gen Stanley Menezes". The Telegraph.
  14. ^ "SHRI JAGJIVAN RAM TO VISIT BULGARIA, ROMANIA AND U.K." (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in.
  15. ^ "TENT PEGGING BEING INCLUDED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ASIAD EQUESTRIAN" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in.
  16. ^ "Press Information Bureau". Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  17. ^ "Lt Gen SK Sinha – Brown Pundits". www.brownpundits.com. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  18. ^ Roychowdhury, Shankar (19 November 2016). "Tribute: The 'thinking man's soldier'". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  19. ^ "EMINENT SHERWOODIANS". Old Sherwoodians.
  20. ^ "FAREWELL GUARD OF HONOUR TO LT GEN G S RAWAT, VICE CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in.
  21. ^ "Indian Army: Polishing the brass". India Today.
  22. ^ "ANTARCTICA WINTERING TEAM MEETS DEFENCE MINISTER - EXPERIENCE RECOUNTED" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in.
  23. ^ "LT GEN J K PURI VICE CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF RETIRES" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in.
  24. ^ "NEW ARMY COMMANDERS AND VICE CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF ANNOUNCED" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in.
  25. ^ "ARMY COMMANDERS' CONFERENCE" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in.
  26. ^ "Lt-General Vijai Singh appointed new Vice-Chief of Army Staff". India Today. 31 March 1992.
  27. ^ "RELEASE OF COMMEMORATIVE STAMP MARKS PLATINUM JUBILEE OF HEADQUARTERS DELHI AREA" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in.
  28. ^ "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Main News". www.tribuneindia.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017.
  29. ^ Archived 2017-10-20 at the Wayback Machine
  30. ^ "Welcome to Warwounded". warwounded.org. Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  31. ^ Archived 2016-08-15 at the Wayback Machine
  32. ^ "Minor reshuffle likely at Army hq". The Hindu. 1 November 2002.[dead link]
  33. ^ "JJ Singh to take over as Army chief". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017.
  34. ^ "New Vice-Chief of Army Staff". The Hindu. 1 January 2005. Archived from the original on 16 February 2005.
  35. ^ "Press Information Bureau". Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  36. ^ "Pattabhiraman to be Army Vice-Chief". www.tribuneindia.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2005.
  37. ^ "Press Information Bureau". Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  38. ^ "Deepak Kapoor, next Vice Chief of Army Staff". www.thehindu.com.
  39. ^ "Press Information Bureau". Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  40. ^ "Milan Naidu to be Vice-Chief of Army Staff". www.indianexpress.com.
  41. ^ "ML Naidu named Indian Army vice chief | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". dna. 30 August 2007. Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  42. ^ "Lt Gen Naidu takes over as Vice-Chief of Army Staff - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  43. ^ "Thamburaj takes charge as Vice-Chief of Army Staff". www.thehindu.com/.
  44. ^ "Lt. Gen. Thamburaj, next Army Vice-Chief". The Hindu. 19 November 2008. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  45. ^ "Lt. Gen Noble Thamburaj takes over as Vice Chief of the Army staff". Thaindian News. Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  46. ^ "Lt Gen P C Bhardwaj to be next Army vice chief". indianexpress.com/. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017.
  47. ^ "Lt Gen P C Bhardwaj to take over as Army Vice Chief on Oct 1". Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  48. ^ "Lt Gen P C Bhardwaj to be next Army vice chief". The Indian Express. 1 September 2009. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  49. ^ "Lt. Gen. Lamba takes charge as Vice-Chief of Army Staff". www.thehindu.com.
  50. ^ "Lt Gen Lambda takes over as Army vice chief". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 December 2010.
  51. ^ "Lt Gen SK Singh is new army vice chief". hindustantimes.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017.
  52. ^ "Lt General Bipin singh rawat Takes over as Army Vice Chief". NDTV. 5 August 2014. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  53. ^ "Press Information Bureau". Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  54. ^ "Press Information Bureau". Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  55. ^ "Lt Gen M M S Rai takes over as the new vice chief of Army staff - The Economic Times". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 4 August 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  56. ^ "Lt Gen Bipin Rawat to take over as the VCOAS". pibarchive.nic.in.
  57. ^ "Lieutenant General Sarath Chand Takes over as Vice Chief of Army Staff". pib.nic.in. PIB.
  58. ^ "Lt Gen Devraj Anbu Assumes Charge as VCOAS". pib.nic.in. PIB.
  59. ^ Gurung, Shaurya Karanbir. "Naravane appointed as new Vice Chief of Indian Army, four army commanders appointed". The Economic Times. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  60. ^ admin (25 January 2020). "Lt Gen SK Saini Appointed Vice Chief of Indian Army". Bharat Shakti. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  61. ^ "LT GEN CP Mohanty takes over as Vice Chief of the Army Staff". PIB. 1 February 2021.
  62. ^ @ANI (18 January 2022). "Government of India approves the proposal for the appointment of Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen Manoj Pande as the next Vice Chief of Army Staff: Sources" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  63. ^ "LIEUTENANT GENERAL BAGGAVALLI SOMASHEKAR RAJU TO TAKE OVER AS VICE CHIEF OF THE ARMY STAFF ON 01 MAY 2022" (Press release). PIB. 29 April 2022.
  64. ^ "Lt General MV Suchindra Kumar To Be Appointed As Army Vice Chief". NDTV.com. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  65. ^ "Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi takes charge as 46th Vice Chief of Army Staff". The Hindu. 19 February 2024.
  66. ^ "LIEUTENANT GENERAL NS RAJA SUBRAMANI, PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM TAKES OVER AS VICE CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF". pib.gov.in. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
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