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 ...

Philip Campose,

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 ...

& Bar, VSM was the Vice 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 ...

and assumed office on 1 August 2014 succeeding General

Dalbir Singh General Dalbir Singh Suhag, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC (born 28 December 1954) is the former Indian High Commissioner to Seychelles and a former Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army. He was the 25th Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) of the ...

. He retired on 31 July 2015 and was succeeded by Lieutenant General Man Mohan Singh Rai.

Early life and education

Campose is an alumnus of

St. Xavier's School, Delhi St. Xavier’s Senior Secondary School is a private Catholic primary and secondary school located in Raj Niwas Marg in the Civil Lines area of North Delhi, in India. Founded by the Jesuits in 1960 as a residential school for boys only, the scho ...

;

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 ...

, Pune 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 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 also completed various command courses from

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; National Defence College, New Delhi; 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 a tactical course in Russia. He holds a master's degree in philosophy in Defence Management and Security Studies and in Strategic Studies from

Indore Indore (; ISO 15919, ISO: , ) is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The commercial capital of the state, it has been declared as the List of cleanest cities in India, cleanest city of In ...

and Madras Universities respectively.

Career

Campose was commissioned into

9 Gorkha Rifles The 9th Gorkha Rifles is a Gorkha infantry regiment of the Indian Army and, previously, the British Army. The regiment was initially formed by the British in 1817, and was one of the Gurkha regiments transferred to the Indian Army after independ ...

in 1974 and was later transferred to the

Mechanised Infantry Regiment The Mechanised Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army, comprising 27 battalions (including 3 tracked and 2 wheeled reconnaissance and support battalions) dispersed under various armoured formations throughout India. Togethe ...

in 1982. He has vast operational and command experience including commander of a mechanized infantry battalion; commander of an infantry division near 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 ...

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 ...

; Brigade Major of an Armoured Brigade; Colonel of General Staff of a counter insurgency division in

north-east India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political administrative division of the country. It comprises eight states—Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, M ...

; Deputy Director General of Strategy at the Directorate of Perspective Planning; Chief Staff Officer (Land Vector) at the headquarters of

Strategic Forces Command The Strategic Forces Command (SFC), sometimes called Strategic Nuclear Command, forms part of India's Nuclear Command Authority (NCA). It is responsible for the management and administration of the country's tactical and strategic nuclear we ...

and Commander of

XII Corps 12th Corps, Twelfth Corps, or XII Corps may refer to: * 12th Army Corps (France) * XII Corps (Grande Armée), a corps of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XII (1st Royal Saxon) Corps, a unit of the Imperial German Army * XII ( ...

(Jodhpur). He has also served as an instructor at National Defence Academy, Defence Services Staff College and at the tactical wing of Armoured Corps Centre and School (ACCS). He was deputed to

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

peace keeping missions in former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and northern

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. In 2013, on being promoted to the rank to Army Commander, he was appointed as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Command, prior to his appointment as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff (VCOAS) of Indian Army. He succeeded Lieutenant General

as the Vice Chief of Army Staff, who was promoted to the rank of full general and appointed as the

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 ( ...

. He was also the colonel commandant of the Mechanised Infantry Regiment. During his career of more than four decades, he was awarded the Param Vishist Seva Medal (January 2015),

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 ...

** (January 2014 and January 2013) and

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 ...

(January 2011) for his distinguished service to the country.

Awards and decorations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campose, Philip Living people Malayali people Military personnel from Kerala Indian generals 20th-century Indian military personnel 21st-century Indian military personnel Indian Christians Vice chiefs of Army Staff (India) Year of birth missing (living people) National Defence College, India alumni Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Vishisht Seva Medal Army War College, Mhow alumni Defence Services Staff College alumni