Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 battlefield, who was norma ...

Chandi Prasad Mohanty is a retired

General Officer A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

in the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

. He was the 42nd Vice Chief of the Army Staff and assumed office on 1 February 2021, following the retirement of Satinder Kumar Saini. He was previously the

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

(GOC-in-C) of the Southern Command, assuming command on 30 January 2020. He was trained at RIMC Dehradun.

Early life and education

Mohanty was born in an aristocratic Karan family at

Jagatsinghpur Jagatsinghpur is a town and a municipality in Jagatsinghpur district in the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of Jagatsinghpur district. It got the recognition as a new district on 1 April 1993 formerly it was a sub-division ...

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

to Jitendra K. Mohanty, a civil servant, and Sarada Mohanty, a professor of Odia at S.V.M. College. Following his education at Bagashai U. P. School, he joined the

Rashtriya Indian Military College The Rashtriya Indian Military College (abbreviated RIMC; formerly known as Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College) () is a military school for boys situated in Doon Valley, Dehradun in India. The RIMC is a feeder institution for the Nation ...

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

. He subsequently entered the

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces. Here, cadets of the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force train together before they go on to their respective service a ...

(NDA). He holds an M. Phil and a Master's in Management and has conducted extensive studies of China, South Asia, and northeastern India. He is a graduate of the

Defence Services Staff College The Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) is a defence service training institution of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. It trains officers of all three services of the Indian Armed Forces – (Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air ...

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

Career

Mohanty was commissioned a second lieutenant in the

Rajput Regiment The Rajput Regiment is one of the oldest infantry regiments of the Indian Army. The regiment traces its history back to 1778, when the 24th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry was formed. The regiment's 1st Battalion was later formed in 1798 ...

in June 1982. He has commanded battalions in both

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

and in

Northeast India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...

, and has held staff appointments in an armoured brigade and in the military secretariat. He commanded a UN multi-national brigade in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

and has served as a military advisor to the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

government. He has also commanded a mountain brigade along the India-China border and a mountain division in Assam in 2014. He also served as Director General of operational logistics and strategic movement at the Integrated Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence (Army) at New Delhi. After the Doklam standoff, he commanded the XXXIII Corps in the Eastern Command and was then appointed GOC Uttar Bharat Area at

Bareilly Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The city ...

Decorations

Dates of rank

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohanty, Chandi Prasad Indian generals Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Jagatsinghpur district Military personnel from Odisha Indian Army officers Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Sena Medal National Defence Academy (India) alumni Vice chiefs of Army Staff (India) Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal Defence Services Staff College alumni Rashtriya Indian Military College alumni