Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Lakhbinder Singh 'Tony' Lidder (26 June 1969 – 8 December 2021) was an

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- ...

officer. He was the Defence Assistant to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Armed Forces are supported by ...

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Bipin Rawat General Bipin Rawat (16 March 1958 – 8 December 2021) was an Indian military officer who was a four-star general of the Indian Army. He served as the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Indian Armed Forces from January 2020 unt ...

. He died in the

2021 Indian Air Force Mil Mi-17 crash On 8 December 2021, a Mil Mi-17V-5 transport helicopter operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed between Coimbatore and Wellington in Tamil Nadu, after departing from Sulur Air Force Station. The helicopter was carrying Chief of Defence ...

along with the CDS and 12 officers and defence personal from the Indian Army and

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

Early life and education

Born into a military family, Lidder - then still Singh - completed his studies at the Kendriya Vidyalaya in

Mhow Mhow, officially Dr. Ambedkar Nagar, is a town in the Indore district in Madhya Pradesh state of India. It is located south-west of Indore city, towards Mumbai on the old Mumbai-Agra Road. The town was renamed as ''Dr. Ambedkar Nagar'' in 20 ...

, where he was a brilliant student. After passing the exam for 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 ...

(NDA) on his first attempt, he joined the 77th course of the NDA in January 1987 and was assigned to the academy's India Squadron. After the NDA, he entered the

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 ...

(IMA) where he excelled, serving as cadet sergeant major of his company (Alamein Company) in his third term.

Career

On 15 December 1990, Lidder was commissioned a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the second battalion, the

Jammu and Kashmir Rifles The Jammu and Kashmir Rifles is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. Its origins lay in the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. After the accession of the state to the Indian Union in October 1947, ...

. From 1992 to 1995, he served in the

Kashmir Valley The Kashmir Valley, also known as the ''Vale of Kashmir'', is an intermontane valley concentrated in the Kashmir Division of the Indian- union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The valley is bounded on the southwest by the Pir Panjal Range and ...

as a company commander and his battalion's adjutant, with promotion to lieutenant on 15 December 1992. During his posting, he played a key role in coordinating and directing his battalion's operations, and "for acts of exceptional devotion to duty or courage" was awarded the

Sena Medal The Sena Medal is awarded to members of the Indian army, of all ranks, "for such individual acts of exceptional devotion to duty or courage as have special significance for the Army." Awards may be made posthumously and a bar is authorized for s ...

(SM) as an acting

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the January 1994 Republic Day awards list. He also received the Chief of Army Staff’s Commendation Card and the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief’s Commendation Card for his services, and was promoted to substantive captain on 15 December 1995. Lidder was subsequently posted to the NDA as a squadron commander, followed by appointment as an adjutant at the Indian Military Academy. Promoted to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

on 15 December 2000, he adopted his surname of "Lidder" in 2003 while stationed at the NDA. During this period, he completed the Staff Course and the Higher Command Course, receiving promotion to

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

on 16 December 2004. He then commanded his battalion in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, as a part of the United Nations

MONUSCO The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or MONUSCO, an acronym based on its French name , is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which was estab ...

peacekeeping force, serving in an Indian Army brigade commanded by then-Brigadier

. Returning to India, Lidder served as a director at the Military Operations Directorate. He was promoted to substantive

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

(by selection) on 1 May 2009. He served as the

defence attaché Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

in the embassy in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

before receiving promotion to

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

on 20 September 2017 (seniority from 1 November 2015), and being given command of a brigade in

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

on the Indo-Tibetan border. A frequent writer and defence analyst, Lidder published a number of articles on Indian and regional military developments, including for the

Centre for Land Warfare Studies The Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), New Delhi, India is an autonomous think tank on strategic studies and land warfare. The mandate of CLAWS covers national security issues, conventional military operations and sub-conventional warfar ...

. After completing advanced courses at the National Defence College, New Delhi, Lidder was selected by his former commanding officer Rawat, by then Chief of the Defence Staff, to serve as his Defence Assistant. Awarded the

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 ...

(VSM) in 2020, he joined Rawat's staff that year. In 2021, he was selected for promotion to

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

, and was scheduled to have been appointed General Officer Commanding (GOC) of a

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

in 2022.

Death

Lidder died in the crash of an

Mil Mi-17V-5 transport helicopter on 8 December 2021. He was accompanying CDS Gen.Bipin Rawat, his wife and the rest of his staff on a flight to the

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 ...

(DSSC) in

Wellington, Tamil Nadu Wellington is a town in the Nilgiris District of the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu, three kilometres to the north of Coonoor on the NH181. The town includes a Wellington Bazaar, and the Wellington Cantonment. The W ...

, where Rawat was scheduled to address the institution's personnel and students. At around 12:10 p.m. local time, the aircraft crashed near a residential colony of private tea estate employees on the outskirts of the hamlet of Nanjappachatiram,

Bandishola Vandicholai (''Vandicholai''; Tamil: வண்டிச்சோலை) is a Panchayat village in Coonoor Taluk of The Nilgiris District, Tamil Nadu, India. The settlement takes its name from a nearby Shola (indigenous forest). Though the adject ...

panchayat, in the Katteri-Nanchappanchathram area of

Coonoor Coonoor, natively spelt as Kunnur (), is a Taluk and a municipality of the Nilgiris district in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu. As of 2011, the town had a population of 45,494. Demographics According to 2011 census, Coonoor had a population ...

taluk,

Nilgiris district The Nilgiris district () is one of the 38 districts in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Nilgiri ( en, Blue Mountains) is the name given to a range of mountains spread across the borders among the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Ker ...

. The crash site was 10 km from the flight's intended destination. Apart from Group Captain Varun Singh, who was an instructor at the DSSC, all of the persons aboard the flight were killed; of those, only the bodies of General Rawat, his wife and Lidder could be readily identified. Along with those of the others killed in the crash, Lidder's body was flown to Palam Air Base in Delhi on 9 December. He was cremated with full military honours at the Brar Square crematorium in Delhi Cantonment at 9:00 a.m. on 10 December 2021. Among those in attendance were

Defence Minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

Rajnath Singh Rajnath Singh (; born 10 July 1951) is an Indian politician serving as the Defence Minister of India. He is currently the Deputy Leader of the House Lok Sabha. He is the former President of Bharatiya Janata Party. He has previously served as t ...

National Security Advisor A national security advisor serves as the chief advisor to a national government on matters of security. The advisor is not usually a member of the government's cabinet but is usually a member of various military or security councils. National sec ...

Ajit Doval Ajit Kumar Doval KC (born 20 January 1945) is a bureaucrat & spymaster, serving as the fifth and current National Security Advisor (NSA) to the Prime Minister of India, with the precedence equivalent to Cabinet Minister. He previously served as ...

and

Chief Minister of Haryana The Chief Minister of Haryana is the chief executive of the Indian state of Haryana. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elect ...

Manohar Lal Khattar Manohar Lal Khattar (born 05 May 1954) is an Indian politician serving as the 10th and current chief minister of Haryana. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a former RSS pracharak. He represents Karnal constituency in Haryan ...

Personal life

Lidder was the son of the late Colonel Mehnga Singh. He was survived by his mother, brother Raj Lidder and sister Sukhwinder Cheema, along with his wife Geetika, a schoolteacher, and their 17-year-old daughter, Aashna.

Decorations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lidder, Lakhbinder Singh 1969 births 2021 deaths Indian Army officers United Nations military personnel People from Haryana Indian Military Academy alumni National Defence College, India alumni National Defence Academy (India) alumni Recipients of the Sena Medal Recipients of the Vishisht Seva Medal Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2021 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in India Victims of helicopter accidents or incidents