Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (India) Senior role in the Indian Army
The Deputy Chiefs of the Army Staff (DCOAS) are Principal Staff Officers (PSOs) of the Indian Army , and are three-star rank appointments held by Lieutenant-Generals . Currently the rank of DCOAS has three divisions:- Capability Development and Sustenance, Information Systems & Coordination and Strategy.
History
The position of Deputy Chief of Army Staff (DCOAS) was first established on 27 January 1959 as the second-in-command of the Indian Army after the Chief of Army Staff . It was equivalent to an Army Commander (GOC-in-C).[ 1] [ 2] Lt. Gen. M. S. Wadalia became the first DCOAS.
In January 1965, the position of Vice Chief of the Army Staff replaced the DCOAS in the role of second-in-command, with the DCOAS becoming a Principal Staff Officer (PSO) position,[ 3] replacing the former position of Chief of the General Staff .[ 4]
The office of DCOAS was eventually bifurcated into :- Planning and Systems and Training and Coordination. The division of Training and Coordination was later renamed to Information Systems and Training.
In April 2021, the rank of Deputy Chief (Planning and Systems) was amended to Deputy Chief (Capability Development and Sustenance) and Deputy Chief (Information Systems and Training) to Deputy Chief (Information Systems and Coordination). A third post and new post of DCOAS Strategy was created.[ 5]
Order of Precedence
The DCOAS rank at No. 24 on the Indian order of precedence , along with Vice-Admirals of the Indian Navy and Air Marshals of the Indian Air Force .[ 6] Since they should not draw equivalent or more salary than the next higher level, the remuneration is capped at ₹ 2,24,000.[ 7] [ 8]
Current organisation
Currently, there are three DCOAS at Army HQ:[ 9]
Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Capability Development and Sustenance)
Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (Information Systems and Coordination)
Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Strategy)
Appointees
Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (1959-65)
Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (1965-1993)
Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Capability Development and Sustenance)
This officer takes care of all capital procurement. DG Infantry, DG Armoured, ADG Mechanised Infantry, DG Artillery, DG Air Defence and DG Capability Development report come under this office.[ 5]
Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (Planning and Systems)
Rank
Name
Appointment date
Left office
Regiment of Commission
Decorations
References
Notes
Lieutenant General
Sushil Kumar Pillai
May 1988
Assam Regiment
PVSM
[ 34]
Prakash Mani Tripathi
1992
September 1993
63rd Cavalry
PVSM, AVSM
[ 35]
D.K. Khanna
September 1993
31 August 1994
Kumaon Regiment
[ 36]
S.S. Sethi
1 September 1994
September 1996
Regiment of Artillery
AVSM
[ 37]
N.S. Malik
September 1996
28 February 1998
4th Horse (Hodson's Horse)
PVSM
[ 38]
Shamsher Singh Mehta
March 1998
31 March 2001
63rd Cavalry
PVSM, AVSM**, VSM
[ 39]
Arjun Singh Khanna
1 April 2001
31 August 2002
Regiment of Artillery
PVSM, AVSM, VrC
[ 40]
Ashok Chaki
1 September 2002
1 January 2004
4th Gorkha Rifles
PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM
[ 41]
P.P.S. Bhandari
1 January 2004
31 January 2006
4th Horse (Hodson's Horse)
PVSM, AVSM
[ 42]
Gurditar Singh
1 February 2006
Armoured Corps
PVSM, AVSM
[ 43]
Zameer Uddin Shah
1 October 2006
31 August 2008
Regiment of Artillery
PVSM, SM, VSM
[ 44]
Manbir Singh Dadwal
August 2008
Dogra Regiment
PVSM, AVSM**, VSM
[ 45]
J.P. Singh
March 2010
September 2011
Armoured Corps
PVSM, AVSM
[ 46]
Narendra Singh
September 2011
2013
Maratha Light Infantry
PVSM, AVSM
[ 46]
C.A. Krishnan
2014
2015
4th Gorkha Rifles
PVSM, UYSM, AVSM
Subrata Saha
31 March 2017
Assam Regiment
PVSM, UYSM, YSM, VSM*
Shravan Kumar Patyal
31 March 2017
May 2018
4th Gorkha Rifles
PVSM, UYSM, SM
Sudarshan Srikant Hasabnis
June 2018
December 2020
Corps of Engineers
PVSM, VSM
[ 48]
Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Capability Development and Sustenance)
The DG Signals, DG Information Systems and DG Staff Duty report to this office.[ 5]
Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (Training and Coordination)
Rank
Name
Appointment date
Left office
Regiment of Commission
Decorations
References
Notes
Lieutenant General
Satish Nambiar
1993
31 August 1994
Maratha Light Infantry
PVSM, AVSM, VrC
[ 52]
K.L. D'Souza
1 September 1994
Regiment of Artillery
PVSM, AVSM
[ 52]
[ nb 1]
M.R. Sharma
1998
1999
Dogra Regiment
PVSM, VSM
Surinder Kumar Jetley
February 1999
May 2000
Central India Horse
PVSM, AVSM, SM
[ 53]
R.K. Sawhney
June 2000
Jammu and Kashmir Rifles
PVSM, AVSM
[ 54] [ 55]
R.S. Kadyan
2002
Rajputana Rifles
PVSM, AVSM, VSM
J.B.S. Yadava [ 56]
1 September 2002
28 February 2005
11th Gorkha Rifles
PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM
[ 41] [ 57]
Rank
Name
Appointment date
Left office
Regiment of Commission
Decorations
References
Notes
Lieutenant General
Mohinder Puri
28 February 2005
30 April 2006
3rd Gorkha Rifles
PVSM, UYSM
[ 58]
Susheel Gupta
1 May 2006
Jammu and Kashmir Rifles
AVSM, YSM
[ 58]
Samer Pal Singh Dhillon
2008
2009
Regiment of Artillery
PVSM, AVSM, VSM
[ 59]
Virender Singh Tonk
2010
Rajput Regiment
PVSM, AVSM
[ 60]
Ramesh Halagali
February 2012
January 2013
Sikh Light Infantry
PVSM, AVSM, SM
[ 61]
DS Thakur
January 2013
Maratha Light Infantry
[ 62]
Jai Prakash Nehra
October 2014
Madras Regiment
PVSM, AVSM**
[ 63]
Gurmit Singh
October 2014
January 2016
Assam Regiment
PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VSM
[ 64]
Jagbir Singh Cheema
1 February 2017
November 2017
Sikh Regiment
PVSM, AVSM, VSM
[ 65]
N.P.S. Hira
14 March 2016
Jan 2017
Sikh Light Infantry
PVSM, AVSM,SM
[ 66]
Ranbir Singh
Dec 2017
June 2018
Dogra Regiment
PVSM, AVSM*, YSM, SM
[ 67]
Iqroop Singh Ghuman
July 2018
1 October 2019
Brigade of the Guards
PVSM, AVSM
[ 68]
Saranjit Singh
Sikh Light Infantry
PVSM, UYSM, YSM
[ 69]
Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Strategy)
The Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), DG Military Intelligence, DG Operation Logistics and DG Information Warfare report to this office.[ 5]
See also
Notes
^ General D'Souza served in the artillery for fifteen years before shifting to Infantry in 1974 - initially to Maratha Light Infantry and subsequently Mechanised Infantry .
^ Lt. Gen. Sangha was commissioned into the Indian Army on 12 June 1982 in Madras Regiment . He later on shifted to the Parachute Regiment (Special Forces) in January 1984.
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