General 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 ...

Deepak Kapoor

PVSM Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of India. It is the highest peacetime medal of the Indian Armed Forces, and is awarded for "dist ...

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 ...

, SM, VSM, ADC (born 1948,Patna) served as the 22nd

Chief of the Army Staff Chief of the Army Staff or Chief of Army Staff, which is generally abbreviated as COAS, is a title commonly used for the appointment held by the most senior staff officer or the chief commander in several nations' armies. * Chief of Army Staff ( ...

of 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 ...

, appointed on 30 September 2007 and

Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee The Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) is an administrative forum of the senior-most military leaders of the Indian Armed Forces, which advises the Government of India on all military and strategic matters deemed privy to military coordination, ...

appointed on 31 August 2009.

Biography

Kapoor was commissioned into the

Regiment of Artillery Regiment of Artillery may refer to: * Regiment of Artillery (Pakistan) * Regiment of Artillery (India) The Regiment of Artillery is a combat support arm of the Indian Army, which provides massive firepower during all ground operations of t ...

on 11 June 1967. He is an alumnus of

Sainik School, Kunjpura Sainik School, Kunjpura in the state of Haryana, one of the first five Sainik Schools (military school) established in 1961 in India, is jointly operated by the Government of Haryana state and GoI's Ministry of Defence. It aims to prepare stude ...

;Public Information Bureau release on Kunjpara Sainik School
/ref> National Defence Academy Khadakwasla (30th Course) and

Indian Military Academy The Indian Military Academy (IMA) is one of the oldest military academies in India, and trains officers for the Indian Army. Located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, it was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up ...

, Dehradun. His career in the Indian Army spans four decades, during which he has held varied command and as well as staff appointments. A veteran of the 1971 Indo-Pak War in the eastern theatre (Bangladesh), he is an alumnus 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 ...

in Wellington and has completed the Higher Command Course at

Army War College, Mhow The Army War College, Mhow (A.W.C.) is a defence service training and research institution of the Indian Army located in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh. It is a premier training institute of warfare and carries out research in tactics, logistics, contem ...

and the National Defence College course at the National Defence College in New Delhi. He served as the Chief Operations Officer for UNOSOM II (

United Nations Operation in Somalia II The United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II) was the second phase of the United Nations intervention in Somalia and took place from March 1993 until March 1995, following the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991. UNOSOM II carried o ...

) during 1994–95 and was awarded the

Vishisht Seva Medal The Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM, ) is a decoration of the Indian Armed Forces. It is awarded to recognize "distinguished service of a high order" to all ranks of the Indian Armed Forces. From 1980, the Yudh Seva Medal was introduced to recognize ex ...

in January 1996. Kapoor commanded the 161 Infantry Brigade in Uri, Jammu & Kashmir which was actively involved in operations along the

Line of Control The Line of Control (LoC) is a military control line between the Indian and Pakistanicontrolled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary, but ser ...

. For his performance he was 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 ...

in January 1998. He commanded the 22nd Mountain Division as part of a Strike Corps 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-Man ...

in 2001–02. He was thereafter deeply involved in counter insurgency operations combating the insurgency in

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

, as Chief of Staff of 4 Corps in

Tezpur Tezpur () is a city 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. History Tezpur was under the rule of the Koch dynasty ...

. On promotion to

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 ...

, he commanded 33 Corps at

Siliguri Siliguri (, ; ), also known as Shiliguri, is a major Tier ii cities in india, tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms the twin cities, Twin Cities with the neighbouring city of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeel ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. For his service as a Corps Commander, he was awarded the

Ati Vishisht Seva Medal 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 D ...

in January 2006. On elevation to the appointment of Army Commander, he commanded the

Army Training Command The Army Training Command, abbreviated as ARTRAC, is one of the seven commands of the Indian Army. It is currently based at Shimla. It was established in 1991. History The Army Training Command was established on 1 October 1991 at Mhow in Madh ...

(ARTRAC) in Shimla. Thereafter he moved to spearhead the

Northern Command (India) The Northern Command is a Command (military formation), Command of the Indian Army. It was originally formed as the Northern Army of the British Indian Army in 1908. It was scrapped upon India's independence in 1947 and later re-raised in 1972. ...

, the largest operational command in the Indian Army, deployed over varied terrain and was once again actively involved in COIN operations. For his performance, he was awarded the

Param Vishisht Seva Medal Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of India. It is the highest peacetime medal of the Indian Armed Forces, and is awarded for "dist ...

in January 2007. Kapoor was appointed as the Honorary Aide-De-Camp to the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, the President of India. He was also the senior Colonel Commandant of the

. Kapoor was Vice-Chief of the Army before taking over as the Chief of Army Staff.

Personal life

Kapoor holds master's degrees in Political Science, Military Science and Business Administration, the latter which he completed at the

Indira Gandhi National Open University Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is a National university, public Open university (concept), open & Distance education, distance learning university located in Delhi, India. Named after the former Prime Minister of India, prime ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. He also holds a diploma in Business Management. He is married to Kirti Kapoor and they have two children – a daughter and a son, both of whom are married.

Major Decorations and Badges

Awards

Dates of rank

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kapoor, Deepak 1948 births Living people Chiefs of Army Staff (India) Military personnel from Punjab, India Sainik School alumni Indira Gandhi National Open University alumni Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal Vice chiefs of Army Staff (India) Recipients of the Sena Medal Indian generals National Defence College, India alumni Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Vishisht Seva Medal Army War College, Mhow alumni Defence Services Staff College alumni