General Sundararajan Padmanabhan, the 20th Chief of the Indian Army, who served the country for 43 years, died in Chennai on Monday at the age of 83.
He was the Chief of Army Staff from 30 September 2000 to 31 December 2002. General Padmanabhan was known as ‘Paddy’ among his military colleagues. He was also awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal for his long and illustrious career.
Born on 5 December 1940 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, General Padmanabhan was a student of Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) in Dehradun and National Defense Academy (NDA) at Khadakvasla, Pune.
He was appointed to the Artillery Regiment after graduating from the Indian Military Academy on 13 December 1959. After getting commissioned in the Army, General Padmanabhan commanded the oldest ‘Light Battery’ of the Indian Army from August 1975 to July 1976.
After this, he led the ‘Gazala Mountain Regiment’ from September 1977 to March 1980. This mountain regiment is one of the oldest artillery regiments of the Indian Army and has participated in many wars.
General Padmanabhan served as the ‘Chief of Staff’ of 3 Corps from September 1992 to June 1993. After promotion as Lieutenant General, he was the commander of 15 Corps in Kashmir Valley from July 1993 to February 1995.
During his tenure, the army gained a big lead over the terrorists in Kashmir. After this, he served as the 20th Chief of Army Staff of the country from 30 September 2000 to 31 December 2002.
General Padmanabhan retired on December 31, 2002 after over 43 years of distinguished military service. Before joining the prestigious National Defence College (NDC) in Delhi, General Padmanabhan commanded an independent artillery brigade and a ‘mountain brigade’. He was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) for services as Commander of 15 Corps.
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