Commandant of the
Defence Services Staff College
Crest of the College
TypeMilitary
StatusActive
Formation15 August 1947; 76 years ago (15 August 1947)
First holderBrigadier S D Verma
Websitewww.dssc.gov.in

The Commandant of the Defence Services Staff College is the head and overall in-charge of the Defence Services Staff College. The Commandant of the Academy is a Three-star rank officer from the Indian Army. He is supported by the chief instructors of the Army, Navy and Air wings, Major General in charge of Administration (MG IC Adm) (all two-star rank appointments), Brigadier General Staff (one-star appointment) and a staff officer (SO to Comdt) (an officer of the rank of major).[1]

The Commandant is responsible to the Chiefs of Staff Committee through the Chairman of the Joint Training Committee.

Lieutenant General S Mohan, AVSM, SM, VSM is the present Commandant of the DSSC. He assumed office on 1 February 2022 from Lieutenant General MJS Kahlon.[2]

History

The College was established in 1905 in Quetta (now in Pakistan). After the partition of India and Pakistan, the Indian elements of the Staff College, Quetta led by Colonel S D Verma moved to India. Promoted Brigadier and appointed as the First Commandant, Verma chose Wellington as the location of the Staff College in India.[3] In 1948, Major General W D A Lentaigne, CB, CBE, DSO took over as the Commandant, the longest serving Commandant till date.

The appointment was upgraded to the Three-star rank of Lieutenant General in 1981.[4]

List of Commandants

S.No. Name Assumed office Left office Notes
1 Brigadier S D Verma 1947 1948 Established the Staff College in India
2 Major General W D A Lentaigne, CB, CBE, DSO 1948 1955 Longest serving Commandant
3 Major General P S Gyani 1955 1959 Later served as Force Commander UNEF and Force Commander UNYOM.
4 Major General P P Kumaramangalam, DSO 1959 1959 Later served as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff and the 6th Chief of the Army Staff
5 Major General Sam Manekshaw, MC 1959 1962 Later served as the 7th Chief of the Army Staff. India's first Field Marshal.
6 Major General D Som Dutt 1962 1965 Later served as the First Director of MP-IDSA.[5]
7 Major General Har Prasad 1965 1968 Later served as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff
8 Major General R K Ranjit Singh 1968 1972
9 Major General S P Malhotra, PVSM 1972 1975 Later served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command.
10 Major General A M Sethna, AVSM 1975 1978 Later served as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff
11 Major General Mohinder Singh 1978 1982
12 Lieutenant General K Balaram, PVSM 1982 1984
13 Lieutenant General Mahipat Sinhji, PVSM 1984 1986
14 Lieutenant General F. N. Billimoria, PVSM 1986 1987 Later served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Central Command
15 Lieutenant General Gurinder Singh, AVSM 1987 1989
16 Lieutenant General K S Brar, PVSM, AVSM, VrC 1989 1990 Later served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command
17 Lieutenant General Y K Vadehra, AVSM 1990 1992 [6]
18 Lieutenant General B S Nalwa, PVSM 1992 1994
19 Lieutenant General V P Malik, AVSM 1994 1995 Later served as the 19th Chief of the Army Staff
20 Lieutenant General Baldev Singh, PVSM, AVSM 1995 1997
21 Lieutenant General A S Rao, PVSM, AVSM 1997 1999
22 Lieutenant General S R R Aiyengar, PVSM, AVSM 1999 2001 Earlier served as Commandant of the National Defence College
23 Lieutenant General P P S Bindra, PVSM, AVSM, VSM 2001 2003 [7][non-primary source needed]
24 Lieutenant General T P S Brar, PVSM, YSM 2003 2006
25 Lieutenant General B J Gupta, AVSM 2006 2008 [8]
26 Lieutenant General H P S Klair, SM 2008 2010 [9]
27 Lieutenant General B V Nair 2010 2011 [10]
28 Lieutenant General Chander Prakash, SM, VSM 2011 2013
29 Lieutenant General S K Gadeock, AVSM 2013 2017 [11]
29 Lieutenant General Amrik Singh, AVSM, SM 2017 2019
30 Lieutenant General Y V K Mohan, AVSM, SM, VSM 2019 2020 Earlier served as Commandant of the National Defence College
31 Lieutenant General MJS Kahlon, AVSM 2020 2022
32 Lieutenant General S Mohan, AVSM, SM, VSM 2022 2022 [12]
33 Lieutenant General Virendra Vats YSM, SM, VSM 2022 Present [13]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Organization". dssc.gov.in.
  2. ^ "Commandant".
  3. ^ "The Dawn of the Staff College" (PDF). 29 December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 December 2015.
  4. ^ "DSSC, Wellington - Timeline" (PDF). 1 May 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 May 2015.
  5. ^ "Former Directors of MP-IDSA | Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses". idsa.in.
  6. ^ "Lt Gen Y K Vadehra appointed Commandant of DSSC" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in. PIB. 5 August 1990. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  7. ^ "Annual Seminar on 'Transformation of Armed Forces: Strategic Contours to Shape the Emerging World Order' will be held at College of Defence Management, Sec'bad on 27–28 Nov 2018. Lt Gen SRR Aiyengar, Former Comdt of NDC & DSSC and an alumnus of #CDM will inaugurate the seminar.pic.twitter.com/JTDjZJtQHn". @dprohyd. 25 November 2018.
  8. ^ "Lt.Gen B J Gupta takes charge of DSSC". Zee News. 9 May 2006.
  9. ^ Mar 9, Shantha Thiagarajan. "Coonoor's Black bridge to be named after Manekshaw | Chennai News". The Times of India.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Radhakrishnan, D. (14 January 2012). "Memorable Pongal at the Madras Regimental Centre". The Hindu.
  11. ^ "Welcome to Defence Services Staff College, Wellington". 18 June 2014. Archived from the original on 18 June 2014.
  12. ^ "New Commandant for DSSC". 12 March 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  13. ^ "Lt Gen Virendra Vats assumed the appointment of Commandant, Defence Services Staff College, Wellington on September 01, 2022". 1 September 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
Categories