Lt Gen N P S Hira appointed as Deputy Chief of Army Staff

He will assume office on Mar 14.

“Lieutenant General N.P.S. Hira, who is presently posted as the Chief of Staff of the Indian Army's Northern Command at Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir will take over as the Deputy Chief of Army Staff at the Army Headquarters in New Delhi to with effect from March 14,” Defence spokesman, Col S D Goswami said.

He said that General was commissioned in the Sikh Light Infantry and has a rich experience of counter insurgency operations in J&K and in the North East region, as well as conventional operations in Western Command.

“He commanded the Battalion in Assam (Op RHINO) during the high violence period.  The unit bagged 32 gallantry awards and COAS citation under his command,” Spokesman added.

He later commanded 12 Infantry Brigade in the strategic Uri sector deployed on the Line of Control. The Brigade earned an Ashok Chakra, Kirti Chakra, Shaurya Chakra and many more gallantry awards during his command.

The General commanded the 10 Infantry Division in the J&K on Line of Control with distinction for which he was awarded the Ati Vishisht  Seva Medal.

He is moving to Army Headquarters with an extensive on ground experience of all types of operations. The General is also the Colonel of the Regiment of the Sikh Light Infantry.

The General commanded 11 Corps “Defenders of Punjab” at Jalandhar.  Thereafter he was posted as Chief of Staff of the most important Northern Army battling insurgency in J&K, Siachin Glacier and Line of Actual Control with China in Leh – Ladakh region.

(Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri)