lt Gen Philip Campose on Monday took over as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Command from lt Gen Sanjiv Chachra in a simple ceremony held at Chandimandir. The General Officer later paid homage to the Martyrs at Veer Smriti.
The General Officer was commissioned in the ninth Gorkha Rifles in 1974 and is an alumnus of St Xavier’s School Delhi, the National Defence Academy Khadakwasla (Pune) and Indian Military Academy at Dehradun.
He was later transferred to the mechanised infantry in 1982. A graduate of the Defence Services Staff College Wellington, he also qualified on the Higher Command course Mhow and the National Defence College, New Delhi.
His academic qualifications include Master of Philosophy degrees in Defence Management and Security Studies from Indore University in 1998 and in Security and Strategic Studies from Madras University in 2006.
The Army Commander has held instructional appointments at the National Defence Academy, the Tactical Wing of the School of Armoured Warfare and at the Defence Services Staff College Wellington as Senior Instructor.
On operational staff, Philip Campose has been a Brigade Major of an Armoured Brigade, Colonel General Staff of a Division in Counter Insurgency in the North East, Deputy Director General in the Directorate of Perspective Planning at Army Headquarters and Chief Staff Officer at Headquarters Strategic Forces Command.
His command assignments include command of a Mechanised Infantry Battalion, an Independent Armoured Brigade, an Infantry Division on the line of Control in J&K and a Corps in the Western Sector in deserts. He has attended a tactical course in Russia and served in UN Peace Keeping in the former Yugoslavia and Northern Iraq where he was the head of the mission.
General Campose has been awarded the Eastern Army Commander’s Commendation, Chief of the Army Staff’s Commendation twice, the Vishisth Seva Medal and the Ati Vishisth Seva Medal for distinguished service. He tenanted the appointment of the Director General Perspective Planning (DG PP) at the Army Headquarters at New Delhi.
On June 1, this year Gen Campose was promoted to the rank of Army Commander. Recently, he has also took over as the Colonel Commandant of the Mechanised Infantry Regiment.