Rana Pratap Kalita

UYSM Uttam Yudh Seva Medal (UYSM; ''Great War Service Medal'') is one of India's military decorations for Wartime Distinguished Service. It is awarded for a high degree of distinguished services in an operational context. "Operational context" includes ...

AVSM Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) is a military award of India given to recognize "distinguished service of an exceptional order" to all ranks of the armed forces. The award is a peacetime equivalent of Uttam Yuddh Seva Medal, which is a Wartime Dis ...

, SM, VSM is a serving

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 ...

in 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 is currently the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Indian Army's Eastern Command.

Personal life

He is Assamese by ethnicity and was born in Rangia of

Kamrup District Kamrup Rural district, or simply Kamrup district (Pron: ˈkæmˌrəp or ˈkæmˌru:p), is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India formed by dividing the old Kamrup district into two in the year 2003; other being Kamrup Metro ...

to Renu Kalita and Jogendra Kalita. He is an alumnus of Sainik School, Goalpara and

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.

Military career

General Kalita was commissioned in 9 Kumaon Regiment on 9 June 1984 from

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. He had commanded III Corps and was the Chief of Staff of Eastern Command. He served as Director General - Manpower Planning and Personnel Services at Army Headquarters. General Kalita is a recepeint of

, SM and VSM. He became the first Assamese to hold the charge of General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Command. He succeeded

Manoj Pande General Manoj Pande, (born 6 May 1962) is an Indian Army General serving as the 29th and the current Chief of the Army Staff. He previously served as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff, General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Comma ...

on his elevation to Vice Chief of the Army Staff.

Awards and decorations

Dates of rank

References

Indian generals Living people Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Vishisht Seva Medal Indian Army officers National Defence Academy (India) alumni Indian military personnel Assamese people Year of birth missing (living people) Recipients of the Uttam Yudh Seva Medal Recipients of the Sena Medal {{India-mil-bio-stub