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 ...

Lakshman Singh Rawat,

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 ...

(November 1930 – 11 February 2015) was a

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 last served as the Deputy Chief of the Army Staff, from 1987 to 1988. His son,

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 ...

Bipin Rawat Bipin Rawat (16 March 1958 – 8 December 2021) was an Indian military officer who was a Four-star rank, four-star General (India), general of the Indian Army. He served as the first Chief of Defence Staff (India), Chief of Defence Staff (CDS ...

was India's first Chief of the Defence Staff and was the 26th

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 ( ...

Early life

Rawat was born in November 1930 in the Sainj village of the

Pauri Garhwal district Pauri Garhwal is a district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Its headquarters is in the town of Pauri. It is sometimes referred to simply as Garhwal district, though it should not be confused with the larger Garhwal region of which it is ...

to a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Garhwali Rajput Garhwali Rajput, also referred to Rajputs of Garhwal region of Uttrakhand who held considerable power in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, from around the 9th century till the conquest of Garhwal by the Garhwal Kingdom. Clans List of Rajput c ...

family. His father was a soldier in the Indian Army. Apart from Rawat, his brothers Bharat and Harinandan both served in the ranks of the Indian Army.

Military career

Rawat was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 3rd battalion, The

11th Gorkha Rifles The 11th Gorkha Rifles is a Gorkha regiment of the Indian Army that was re-raised after independence. The regiment consists of primarily the Kirant Tribes Rai, Limbu, Yakkha, Sunuwar of Eastern Nepal, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Dooars of West Be ...

(3/11 GR). He later commanded the 5th battalion of the 11th Gorkha Rifles (5/11 GR). His son Bipin would later be commissioned into this unit and go on to command it. In the rank of

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), 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 colon ...

, Rawat served with the

Indian Military Training Team The Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT), established since 1961–62, is a training mission of the Indian Army in Bhutan. IMTRAT is responsible for the training of the personnel of the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) and the Royal Bodyguard of Bhuta ...

(IMTRAT) in Bhutan from 1970 to 1972. Promoted to the rank of

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 (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

, he commanded an infantry brigade from 1973 to 1976. He subsequently served as the Brigadier Administration (Brig Adm) at the headquarters of the recently formed Northern Command. After a two-year stint as Brig Adm, he was appointed Director National Cadet Corps (NCC), Uttar Pradesh, in November 1978.

General officer

In 1980, Rawat was promoted to the rank of major general and appointed

general officer commanding 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) 19th Infantry Division. He commanded the division for over two years which was based in

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 ...

. For his command of the division, on 26 January 1981, 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 ...

. Rawat subsequently was appointed GOC Maharashtra and Gujarat Area, a static formation, which he commanded for about three years. In June 1985, he was promoted to the rank of

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 ...

and appointed GOC

X Corps 10th Corps, Tenth Corps, or X Corps may refer to: France * 10th Army Corps (France) * X Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars Germany * X Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army * ...

, headquartered at

Bathinda Bathinda is a city and municipal corporation in Punjab, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of Bathinda district. It is located in northwestern India in the Malwa Region, west of the capital city of Chandigarh and is the fifth ...

. He also took over as the

of the

. After a year-long tenure commanding X Corps, he moved to headquarters Southern Command as the Chief of Staff. He served as the Chief of Staff for till November 1987. On 30 November 1987, Rawat moved to Army HQ, after being appointed Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (DCOAS). He also took over as the President of the Gorkha Brigade. After a year-long stint as DCOAS, he retired from the Army. On 26 January 1989, 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 ...

for distinguished service of the most exceptional order.

Personal life

Rawat married the daughter of Kishan Singh Parmar, an ex-

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

(MLA) from

Uttarkashi Uttarkashi is a town and the headquarters of Uttarkashi district in Uttarakhand, India. Geography Uttarkashi is located at . It has an average elevation of . Demographics India census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is t ...

. The couple had two sons -

Bipin A bipin or bi-pin (sometimes referred to as two-pin, bipin cap or bipin socket) is a type of lamp fitting. They are included in the IEC standard "IEC 60061 Lamp caps and holders together with gauges for the control of interchangeability and sa ...

and Vijay. Both sons joined the Army. Bipin rose to the rank of

, becoming the 26th

and the first Chief of the Defence Staff. He was killed in harness in a helicopter crash in 2021. Vijay retired in the rank of

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawat, Lakshman Singh 1930 births 2015 deaths Indian generals Military personnel from Uttarakhand People from Pauri Garhwal district Garhwali people Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Deputy chiefs of Army Staff (India)