Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Dewan Rabindranath Soni,

PVSM Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (IAST: ) is a military award of India. It was constituted in 1960 and since then it is awarded in recognition to peace-time service of the most exceptional order and may be awarded posthumously. All ranks of the ...

, VSM is a former General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Southern Command of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

. He served in office from 1 December 2017 till 30 September 2018. He assumed the post after Lieutenant General P M Hariz retired and was succeeded by Lt General

Satinder Kumar Saini Lieutenant General Satinder Kumar Saini, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, VSM, ADC was the 41st Vice Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army and assumed the office on 25 January 2020. He previously served as General Officer Commanding in Chief (GOC-in-C ...

Education and personal life

Soni is an alumnus of the

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services i.e. the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force train together before they go on ...

Khadakwasla Khadakwasla Dam is a dam on the Mutha River from the centre of the city of Pune in Maharashtra, India. The dam created a reservoir known as Khadakwasla Lake which is the main source of water for Pune and its suburbs. In the vicinity of Khadakw ...

and

Indian Military Academy The Indian Military Academy (IMA) is one of the oldest military academies in India, and trains officers for the Indian Army. Located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, it was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up ...

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

. In addition, he attended the Junior Command, Senior Command and Higher Command Courses at Army War College, Mhow; the Staff Course at

Defence Services Staff College , motto_lang = sa , mottoeng = ''To War with Wisdom'' , established = (as the ''Army Staff College'', Deolali) , type = Defence Service Training Institute , affiliation = , endowment = , administrative_staff = , faculty = , presi ...

, Wellington; and the Combat Group Commanders Course at Armoured Corps Centre and School,

Ahmednagar Ahmednagar (), is a city located in the Ahmednagar district in the state of Maharashtra, India, about 120 km northeast of Pune and 114 km from Aurangabad. Ahmednagar takes its name from Ahmad Nizam Shah I, who founded the town in 1494 ...

. He also has a master's degree in Global Security from

Cranfield University , mottoeng = After clouds light , established = 1946 - College of Aeronautics 1969 - Cranfield Institute of Technology (gained university status by royal charter) 1993 - Cranfield University (adopted current name) , type = Public research uni ...

and attended the Defence College of Management and Technology,

Shrivenham Shrivenham is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Faringdon. The village is close to the county boundary with Wiltshire and about east-northeast of Swindon. The 2011 Census recorde ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. He is a sportsman and likes golf and tennis. He is married to Colonel Suman Soni (retd.), who served in the Army as a gynecologist for twenty-two years.

Career

Soni was commissioned into the

Central India Horse The Central India Horse (formerly the 21st King George V's Own Horse, also known as Beatson's Horse) was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army and is presently part of the Indian Army Armoured Corps. Formation The regiment was ra ...

, a tank regiment of the Indian Army, in June 1979. Later, he was transferred to the 47 Armoured Regiment on its raising in 1983. He has commanded an armoured brigade; an armoured division; 47 armoured Regiment (July 1999 - December 2001),

X Corps 10th Corps, Tenth Corps, or X Corps may refer to: France * 10th Army Corps (France) * X Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars Germany * X Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army * ...

(Bhatinda) (18 June 2015 – 16 September 2016) and GOC-in-C,

Army Training Command The Army Training Command, abbreviated as ARTRAC, is one of the seven commands of the Indian Army. It is currently based at Shimla. It was established in 1991. Lieutenant General SS Mahal is the current commander. History The Army Training Comm ...

(17 September 2016 – 30 November 2017). He has held various staff appointments including Brigade Major of an armoured brigade; Colonel Administration of a Counter Insurgency Force in Jammu and Kashmir, and Colonel General Staff of a Mountain Division in the Eastern Sector. He was also deputed as a military observer in Iraq and Kuwait after the Gulf War. During 39 years of his career, he has been awarded the

Param Vishisht Seva Medal Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (IAST: ) is a military award of India. It was constituted in 1960 and since then it is awarded in recognition to peace-time service of the most exceptional order and may be awarded posthumously. All ranks of the ...

(2018),

Vishisht Seva Medal The Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) is a decoration of the Indian Armed Forces. It is awarded to recognize "distinguished service of a high order" to all ranks of the Indian Armed Forces. From 1980, the Yudh Seva Medal was introduced to recognize excep ...

(2015), the Chief of the Army Staff’s Commendation Card and the Commendation Card of the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Western Command. Lt. Gen. Soni retired on September 30, 2018 and was succeeded as the GOC-in-C of the Southern Command by Lt. Gen. S.K. Saini.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soni, Dewan Rabindranath Living people Indian generals Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Vishisht Seva Medal National Defence Academy (India) alumni Indian Military Academy alumni Alumni of Cranfield University Year of birth missing (living people) Army War College, Mhow alumni Defence Services Staff College alumni