IMA COMMANDANT LT. GEN. HARINDER SINGH RETIRES AFTER 40 YEARS ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER
–UTTARAKHAND HIMALAYA BUREAU–
Dehradun, 31 August. Lt Gen Harinder Singh Commandant, Indian Military Academy will finally bid adieu to the Olive Greens on 31 Aug 2022 after an illustrious career spanning nearly 40 years and having tenanted important Command, Staff, and Instructional appointments. During a simple and solemn ceremony being held at the War Memorial, IMA, the General Officer paid homage to the soldiers, who in line duly have laid down their lives for the Nation.
An alumnus of NDA Khadakwasla, the General Officer was commissioned into 9 MARATHA Light Infantry, one of the oldest regiments of the Indian Army. He excelled in Hockey at Academy and is a former Services Hockey player. He later commanded a Rashtriya Rifles Battalion in active counter-terrorist operations while deployed in Kupwara Sector.
The Officer carries varied operational experience having served in different terrains. The Officer has the distinction of commanding two different brigades, which includes the command of the most reputed UN Multi-national Brigade deployed in Eastern Congo and Infantry Brigade along Western. He commanded a mountain division in Kashmir & a Corps along active Northern Borders.
The General Officer earlier served with Military Operation and Operational Logistics directorates in the rank of Major & Colonel respectively. As a Brigadier, he was instrumental in raising the Directorate of Indian Army Veterans (DIAV) at the Army HQ. He has also been an instructor at IMA, Dehradun, and Infantry School, Mhow. The Officer served as a Staff Officer at the UN Mission in Angola. He attended Defence Services Staff College, Higher Comd Course, and excelled in research work at the National Defence College, New Delhi for which he was awarded Colonel Pyare Lal Gold Medal. He has also been an international graduate fellow at Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, Hawaii, USA.
The Commandant has held two fellowships in his service career. As a Research Fellow at IDSA, New Delhi and later at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore, and published several monographs, papers and write-ups in international and national journals & dailies.
As Commandant of IMA, he hosted Shri Ram Nath Kovind, The Honourable President of India, as the Reviewing Officer for the Parade on 11 Dec 2021. He has undertaken various initiatives in IMA in terms of conceptualizing the IMA trg curriculum for institutionalized leadership training to produce the finest future officer cadre for the Indian Army. He has also formulated a vision for a state-of-the-art IMA Library, Innovation Lab, and many other infrastructures to work for trg in domains of zenith tech of modern-day warfare.
The General Officer handed over the Command Baton of the most prestigious Indian Military Academy to Lt Gen VK Mishra, AVSM, the 51st Commandant of IMA