A highly decorated soldier, the General Officer Commanding in Chief (GOC -in-C) of South Western Command, lieutenant General Sarath Chand would be the chief guest on the occasion of Passing Out Parade (POP) for Spring Term 2016 at Indian Military Academy (IMA) on Saturday.
Commissioned into the Garhwal Rifles of Indian Army in June 1979, the officer has had an outstanding professional career spanning over 37 years. An alumnus of Sainik School, Kazhakootam (Trivandrum), National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, Pune and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, lt Gen Chand is a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, the Higher Command Course and the National Defence College, New Delhi.
He has held a number of important staff as well as instructional appointments during his career like Instructor at the Commando Wing of the Infantry School, Brigade Major of a Mountain Brigade in Operation RHINO and Brigadier General Staff of a Corps deployed in High Altitude Area.
He has also held the appointment of the Colonel Military Secretary in the Military Secretary’s Branch at Army Headquarters. The General Officer has also served as a Staff Officer at the United Nations Mission in Somalia (UNOSOM-II).
An Army communiqué informs that the General Officer is highly regarded for his academic and professional achievements within military circles. His academic qualifications include MSc (Defence Studies), MPhil in Defence and Management Studies and an MPhil in Defence and Strategic Studies.