Change of Guard: Here’s the common link between current chiefs of armed forces

(From L-R) Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, Indian Navy chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi and Air Marshal AP Singh (Image - ANI)

With Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh being named as the next Chief of the Air Staff on September 21, the country’s armed forces saw a unique feat being achieved – all the three heads have been course mates and classmates of each other at some point of time.

General Upendra Dwivedi, the Indian Army Chief, and Air Marshal AP Singh have been coursemates from the 65th course or the National Defence Academy, from where they graduated in 1983. Meanwhile, Dwivedi and Indian Navy’s chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi were classmates from the Sainik School, Rewa in Madhya Pradesh.

Better familiarity brings better synergy. Therefore, with the heads of the armed forces sharing a strong bond in the National Defence Academy, this is expected to help in increasing the synergy between the three services.

Such bonding among the senior leadership would be of greater help in present times when the Department of Military Affairs, led by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Anil Chauhan, is working on creating theatre commands for the defence forces.

The three services are also working on having common assets required for operations.

With the latest appointment of Amar Preet Singh, all three defence forces - the Army, Navy, and Air Force - would have seen change in leadership in the last five months.

The government has appointed Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh, presently serving as Vice Chief of the Air Staff, as the next Chief of the Air Staff, in the rank of Air Chief Marshal, with effect from the afternoon of September 30, 2024. The present Chief of the Air Staff is Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari.

While Admiral Tripathi took over as the chief of naval staff on April 30, while General Dwivedi took over on July 31.

(With ANI inputs)