, 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 = , president = , provost = , principal = , rector = , chancellor = , vice_chancellor = , dean = , head_label =

Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

, head =

Lt. Gen. 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 ...

S Mohan, , students = , undergrad = , postgrad = , doctoral = , city = Wellington Cantonment,

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 ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

, state = , country =

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, campus = , free_label = , free = , colors = , colours = , mascot = The Owl , nickname = , affiliations = , website = The Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) is a defence service training institution of the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. It trains officers of all three services 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 th ...

– ( Indian Military Service, Indian Naval Service, Indian Airforce Service), selected officers from the Paramilitary forces and the

Civil Services The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

and officers from friendly foreign countries for command and staff appointments.

History

One of the oldest military institutions in

, it was founded in 1905 as the Army Staff college in Deolali (near

Nashik Nashik (, Marathi: aːʃik, also called as Nasik ) is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Situated on the banks of river Godavari, Nashik is the third largest city in Maharashtra, after Mumbai and Pune. Nash ...

). In 1907, it moved to its permanent location at

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of th ...

(now

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

). After the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, the Indian elements of the Staff College, Quetta led by the senior-most Indian Army instructor

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 ...

S. D. Verma moved to India. Verma was promoted

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. ...

and appointed as the first commandant and chose Wellington Cantonment in

The 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 ...

as the location of the Staff College in India. The first staff course started in April 1948, months after the move. The first course had 46 officers from the Indian Army and 2 each from the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force. Two officers from this course –

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 indicato ...

Tapishwar Narain Raina General Tapishwar Narain Raina (24 January 1921 – 19 May 1980), best known as T.N. Raina, was a senior army officer and a diplomat who served as the 9th Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army between 1975 and 1978. Upon retirement, ...

and

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is als ...

Hrushikesh Moolgavkar Air Chief Marshal Hrushikesh Moolgavkar, PVSM, MVC (15 August 1920 – 9 April 2015) was a former Air officer in the Indian Air Force. He served as the 9th Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force from 1 February 1976 till 31 August ...

went on to head their services as the Chiefs. The air wing was established in 1949 and the Naval Wing in 1950 and the college was rechristened ''Defence Services Staff College''. The college threw open its gates to officers from friendly foreign countries from the fifth course and to

civil servants The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

from the sixth course. DSSC has been affiliated to

Madras University The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

for the award of M.Sc. degree in 'Defence and Strategic Studies' and recognized as a research centre for

MPhil The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil ...

and

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

degrees since 1990.

Crest and motto

Stamp of India - 1998 - Colnect 161855 - Defence Services Staff College

The Staff College when at Quetta adopted the crest of

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, whic ...

, which was the 'Wise Owl' with the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

motto . In 1964, Owl perched on crossed swords and the motto in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

was adopted.

Commandant

The commandant of the Defence Services Staff College is the head of the institution. The commandant is an army officer of the rank of

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 th ...

Organisation

The commandant of the college is assisted by the chief instructors (CI) of the army, naval and air wings, all two-star appointments. The CIs are drawn from the respective services. The Incharge of the administrative wing (also a two-star appointment), and the brigadier general staff (BGS) also report into the commandant.

Notable alumni

Chiefs of Army Staff

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

Sam Manekshaw Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw (3 April 1914 – 27 June 2008), widely known as Sam Manekshaw and Sam Bahadur ("Sam the Brave"), was the Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of ...

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

P. P. Kumaramangalam * General Tapishwar Narain Raina * General

Om Prakash Malhotra General Om Prakash Malhotra, (6 August 1922 – 29 December 2015), best known as OP Malhotra, was a senior army officer in the Indian Army who served as the 10th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army from 19781981. Upon retiring from h ...

* General

Arun Shridhar Vaidya General Arunkumar Shridhar Vaidya (27 July 1926 – 10 August 1986) was a General Officer in the Indian Army. He served as the 13th Chief of the Army Staff from 1983 to 1986. Following his retirement, he was assassinated by Harjinder Singh ...

* General K. V. Krishna Rao * General Krishnaswamy Sundarji * General

Vishwa Nath Sharma General Vishwa Nath Sharma, PVSM, AVSM, ADC (born 4 June 1930) was the 14th Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army, serving between 1988–1990. He was the first Indian COAS to have begun his career in the post-Independence Indian Army. ...

* General Sunith Francis Rodrigues * General

Bipin Chandra Joshi General Bipin Chandra Joshi, PVSM, AVSM, ADC (5 December 1935 – 19 November 1994) was the 17th Chief of Army Staff (COAS) of the Indian Army. He is the only Chief of the Indian Army to die in office, and until the 2021 death of General ...

* General

Ved Prakash Malik General Ved Prakash Malik PVSM, AVSM (born 1 November 1939) served as the 19th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army from 30 September 1997 to 30 September 2000. He was the Army Chief during the Kargil War The Kargil War, also known as ...

* General Sundararajan Padmanabhan * General

Nirmal Chander Vij General Nirmal Chander Vij PVSM, UYSM, AVSM (born 3 January 1943, in Jammu) was the 21st Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army. He held the office from 1 Jan 2003 to 31 Jan 2005. Early life and education General Vij was born on 3 January 1 ...

* General J. J. Singh * General Deepak Kapoor * General

V. K. Singh General Vijay Kumar Singh, (born 10 May 1950) is an Indian politician and a former four-star General in the Indian Army. He is the current Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Ministry of Civil Aviation in th ...

* General Bikram Singh * General Bipin Rawat * General Manoj Mukund Naravane

Chiefs of Naval Staff

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...

Ronald Lynsdale Pereira Admiral (India), Admiral Ronald Lynsdale 'Ronnie' Pereira, PVSM, AVSM (25 May 1923 – 14 October 1993) was a flag officer in the Indian Navy. He served as the ninth Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief of Naval Staff from 1979 to 1982. He is ...

* Admiral Oscar Stanley Dawson * Admiral

Jayant Ganpat Nadkarni Admiral Jayant Ganpat ''"Podgy"'' Nadkarni, PVSM, AVSM, NM, VSM, ADC (5 December 1931 – 2 July 2018) was an Indian Navy Admiral who served as the 13th Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy from 1 December 1987 to 30 November 1990. ...

* Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat * Admiral

Sushil Kumar Sushil Kumar Solanki (born 26 May 1983) is a former Indian wrestler. He carried the Indian flag at the opening ceremony of 2012 London Olympics. His 2008 Olympic medal was second for India in wrestling, and the first since Khashaba Dadasaheb J ...

* Admiral Madhvendra Singh * Admiral Arun Prakash * Admiral

Sureesh Mehta Admiral Sureesh Mehta, PVSM, AVSM (born August 18, 1947) served as 19th Chief of the Indian Navy from 31 October 2006 until 31 August 2009. He was succeeded by Nirmal Kumar Verma. He is the first service chief from India's armed forces to be bo ...

* Admiral Robin K. Dhowan * Admiral Sunil Lanba * Admiral

Karambir Singh Admiral Karambir Singh, PVSM, AVSM, ADC (born 3 November 1959), is a former flag officer of Indian Navy, who served as the 24th Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS). The "Grey Eagle" (senior-most serving naval aviator) of the Navy, he replaced Admi ...

Chiefs of Air Staff

Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer originating from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. An air chief marshal is equivalent to an Admi ...

Hrushikesh Moolgavkar * Air Chief Marshal

Idris Hasan Latif Air Chief Marshal Idris Hasan Latif, PVSM (9 June 1923 – 30 April 2018) was a former air officer in the Indian Air Force. He served as the 10th Chief of Air Staff (CAS) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) from 1978 to 1981. After retiring from the ...

* Air Chief Marshal Lakshman Madhav Katre * Air Chief Marshal Surinder Mehra * Air Chief Marshal S. K. Kaul * Air Chief Marshal Satish Sareen * Air Chief Marshal Anil Yashwant Tipnis * Air Chief Marshal

Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy PVSM, AVSM, VM & Bar, ADC (born January 1943) is a former Air Officer in the Indian Air Force (IAF). He served as the 19th Chief of the Air Staff from 2001 to 2004. He raised the first electron ...

* Air Chief Marshal

Shashindra Pal Tyagi Air Chief Marshal (India), Air Chief Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi, more commonly known as S P Tyagi, served as the 20th Chief of Air Staff of the Indian Air Force and served from 31 December 2004 to 31 March 2007. He was succeeded by Air Chief ...

* Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik * Air Chief Marshal

Arup Raha Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC, D.Litt. ( honorary) ( bn, অরূপ রাহা) was the 21st Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force and served from 31 December 2013 to 31 December 2016. He was also the Chairman o ...

* Air Chief Marshal

Birender Singh Dhanoa Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, VM, ADC is an Indian air force officer who was the 22nd Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force and served from 31 December 2016 to 30 September 2019. Dhanoa also served as the ...

Foreign alumni

* Hans-Christoph Ammon, Head of German special forces *

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 A ...

, President and former military Head of State, Nigeria *

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its presid ...

, former Nigerian President * Sitiveni Rabuka OBE, MSD, OStJ, 3rd Prime Minister of Fiji *

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 colon ...

Gotabhaya Rajapaksa Lieutenant Colonel Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa ( si, නන්දසේන ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ; ta, நந்தசேன கோட்டாபய ராஜபக்ஷ; born 20 June 1949) is a former Sri Lankan military ...

, RWP, RSP, GR – former

President of Sri Lanka The President of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති ''Śrī Laṃkā Janādhipathi''; ta, இலங்கை சனாதிபதி ''Ilankai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of t ...

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 ...

Matheus Alueendo 7th Commander of the

Namibian Army The Namibian Army is the ground warfare branch of the Namibian Defence Force. History Development of Namibia's army was fastest of the three arms of Service. The first units of the Army were deployed as early as 1990. The Army was formed when ...

Basil Gunasekara, former commander of the Sri Lanka Navy

References

External links

* {{authority control Education in Nilgiris district Staff colleges Military academies of India Educational institutions established in 1905 1905 establishments in India Colleges affiliated to University of Madras