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 ...

Devraj Anbu, PVSM,

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 ...

, YSM, SM, ADC is a retired Indian Army general who served as Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS). He assumed office on 1 June 2018 following the retirement of Lt Gen

Sarath Chand Lieutenant General Sarath Chand, 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 ...

, and retired on 31 August 2019. He also served as General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Northern Command from 1 December 2016 to 31 May 2018. Before Commanding Northern Command, he had commanded IV Corps in the North East.

Early life and education

Anbu is an alumnus of Sainik School, Amaravathinagar;

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 ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

and

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 = , pres ...

, Wellington. He also attended the higher command course at Army War College,

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 ...

and a National Defence College equivalent university at Jakarta,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Career

Anbu was commissioned into 14th

Sikh Light Infantry The Sikh Light Infantry is a light infantry regiment of the Indian Army.Siachen Glacier The Siachen Glacier is a glacier located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayas at about , just northeast of the point NJ9842 where the Line of Control between India and Pakistan ends. At long, it is the longest glacier in the Kar ...

; Counter-Insurgency Operations in Kashmir and

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of ...

;

Operation Pawan Operation Pawan ( hi, कार्यवाही पवन ''Kãryvãhi Pavan'', lit. "Operation Wind") was the code name assigned to the operation by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to take control of Jaffna from the Liberation Tigers o ...

in Sri Lanka. He has commanded a unit during

Operation Parakram Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

; a 53 Infantry brigade on the Line Of Control; 17 Mountain Division in Sikkim; Indian Military Training Team in Bhutan; IV Corps (

Tezpur Tezpur () is a city and urban agglomeration in Sonitpur district, Assam state, India. Tezpur is located on the banks of the river Brahmaputra, northeast of Guwahati, and is the largest of the north bank cities with a population exceeding 100, ...

). He has held staff appointments which include General Staff Operation at the Division level in North-East India, General Staff Operation at Corps Level in Kashmir, and Military observer with UN peacekeeping mission in Namibia (UNTAG). During 37 years of his career he has been 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 ...

for

Operation Meghdoot Operation Meghdoot ( "Operation Cloud Messenger" after a famous Sanskrit poem by Kalidasa) was the codename for the Indian Armed Forces' operation to seize control of the Siachen Glacier in Kashmir, precipitating the Siachen conflict. E ...

Yudh Seva Medal The Yudh Seva Medal is one of India's military decorations for distinguished service during wartime. It is awarded for a high degree of distinguished service in an operational context, which includes times of war, conflict, or hostilities and may b ...

(2010) for command of 53 Infantry brigade, the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal for the command of 17 Mountain division,

Uttam Yudh Seva Medal 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 ...

(2016) and 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 ...

(2017) for his service as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command. He is also the Colonel Of The Regiment of the

Sikh Light Infantry The Sikh Light Infantry is a light infantry regiment of the Indian Army.

Honours and decorations

Dates of rank

Personal life

Lt Gen Anbu's father late Shri. Devaraj also rendered his services in Army. They hail from an agricultural family from Madurai, Usilampatti, Vagaikulam village. He is married to Mrs Gowri Anbu and they have a son who is serving 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 likes yoga, painting and gardening.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anbu, Devraj Living people Indian generals Vice Chiefs of Army Staff (India) Recipients of the Uttam Yudh Seva Medal Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal Year of birth missing (living people) National Defence Academy (India) alumni Recipients of the Yudh Seva Medal Recipients of the Sena Medal Army War College, Mhow alumni Defence Services Staff College alumni