Commandant of the Defence Services Staff College

Commandant of the
Defence Services Staff College

Crest of the College

Incumbent
Lieutenant General
Virendra Vats
YSM SM VSM

Type| Military
Status| Active
Formation| 15 August 1947; 77 years ago (15 August 1947)
First holder| Brigadier S D Verma
Website| www.dssc.gov.in

The Commandant of the Defence Services Staff College is the head and overall in-charge of the Defence Services Staff College. The Commandant of the Academy is a Three-star rank officer from the Indian Army. He is supported by the chief instructors of the Army, Navy and Air wings, Major General in charge of Administration (MG IC Adm) (all two-star rank appointments), Brigadier General Staff (one-star appointment) and a staff officer (SO to Comdt) (an officer of the rank of major).[1]

The Commandant is responsible to the Chiefs of Staff Committee through the Chairman of the Joint Training Committee.

Lieutenant General Virendra Vats, AVSM, SM, VSM is the present Commandant of the DSSC. He assumed office on 1 February 2022 from Lieutenant General MJS Kahlon.[2]

## History

[edit]

The College was established in 1905 in Quetta (now in Pakistan). After the partition of India and Pakistan, the Indian elements of the Staff College, Quetta led by Colonel S D Verma moved to India. Promoted Brigadier and appointed as the First Commandant, Verma chose Wellington as the location of the Staff College in India.[3] In 1948, Major General W D A Lentaigne, CB, CBE, DSO took over as the Commandant, the longest serving Commandant till date.

The appointment was upgraded to the Three-star rank of Lieutenant General in 1981.[4]

## List of Commandants

[edit]

S.No.  | Name  | Assumed office  | Left office  | Notes

|
|
|
|

1 | Brigadier S D Verma | 1947 | 1948 | Established the Staff College in India
2 | Major General W D A Lentaigne, CB, CBE, DSO | 1948 | 1955 | Longest serving Commandant
3 | Major General P S Gyani | 1955 | 1959 | Later served as Force Commander UNEF and Force Commander UNYOM.
4 | Major General P P Kumaramangalam, DSO | 1959 | 1959 | Later served as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff and the 6th Chief of the Army Staff
5 | Major General Sam Manekshaw, MC | 1959 | 1962 | Later served as the 7th Chief of the Army Staff. India's first Field Marshal.
6 | Major General D Som Dutt | 1962 | 1965 | Later served as the First Director of MP-IDSA.[5]
7 | Major General Har Prasad | 1965 | 1968 | Later served as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff
8 | Major General R K Ranjit Singh | 1968 | 1972 |
9 | Major General S P Malhotra, PVSM | 1972 | 1975 | Later served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command.
10 | Major General A M Sethna, AVSM | 1975 | 1978 | Later served as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff
11 | Major General Mohinder Singh | 1978 | 1982 |
12 | Lieutenant General K Balaram, PVSM | 1982 | 1984 |
13 | Lieutenant General Mahipat Sinhji, PVSM | 1984 | 1986 |
14 | Lieutenant General F. N. Billimoria, PVSM | 1986 | 1987 | Later served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Central Command
15 | Lieutenant General Gurinder Singh, AVSM | 1987 | 1989 |
16 | Lieutenant General K S Brar, PVSM, AVSM, VrC | 1989 | 1990 | Later served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command
17 | Lieutenant General Y K Vadehra, AVSM | 1990 | 1992 | [6]
18 | Lieutenant General B S Nalwa, PVSM | 1992 | 1994 |
19 | Lieutenant General V P Malik, AVSM | 1994 | 1995 | Later served as the 19th Chief of the Army Staff
20 | Lieutenant General Baldev Singh, PVSM, AVSM | 1995 | 1997 |
21 | Lieutenant General A S Rao, PVSM, AVSM | 1997 | 1999 |
22 | Lieutenant General S R R Aiyengar, PVSM, AVSM | 1999 | 2001 | Earlier served as Commandant of the National Defence College
23 | Lieutenant General P P S Bindra, PVSM, AVSM, VSM | 2001 | 2003 | [7][non-primary source needed]
24 | Lieutenant General T P S Brar, PVSM, YSM | 2003 | 2006 |
25 | Lieutenant General B J Gupta, AVSM | 2006 | 2008 | [8]
26 | Lieutenant General H P S Klair, SM | 2008 | 2010 | [9]
27 | Lieutenant General B V Nair | 2010 | 2011 | [10]
28 | Lieutenant General Chander Prakash, SM, VSM | 2011 | 2013 |
29 | Lieutenant General S K Gadeock, AVSM | 2013 | 2017 | [11]
29 | Lieutenant General Amrik Singh, AVSM, SM | 2017 | 2019 |
30 | Lieutenant General Y V K Mohan, AVSM, SM, VSM | 2019 | 2020 | Earlier served as Commandant of the National Defence College
31 | Lieutenant General MJS Kahlon, AVSM | 2020 | 2022 |
32 | Lieutenant General S Mohan, AVSM, SM, VSM | 2022 | 2022 | [12]
33 | Lieutenant General Virendra Vats YSM, SM, VSM | 2022 | Present | [13]

## See also

[edit]

* Commandant of the National Defence College
* Commandant of Indian Naval Academy
* Commandant of the Indian Military Academy

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Organization". dssc.gov.in.
2. ^ "Commandant".
3. ^ "The Dawn of the Staff College" (PDF). 29 December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 December 2015.
4. ^ "DSSC, Wellington - Timeline" (PDF). 1 May 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 May 2015.
5. ^ "Former Directors of MP-IDSA | Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses". idsa.in.
6. ^ "Lt Gen Y K Vadehra appointed Commandant of DSSC" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in. PIB. 5 August 1990. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
7. ^ "Annual Seminar on 'Transformation of Armed Forces: Strategic Contours to Shape the Emerging World Order' will be held at College of Defence Management, Sec'bad on 27–28 Nov 2018. Lt Gen SRR Aiyengar, Former Comdt of NDC & DSSC and an alumnus of #CDM will inaugurate the seminar.pic.twitter.com/JTDjZJtQHn". @dprohyd. 25 November 2018.
8. ^ "Lt.Gen B J Gupta takes charge of DSSC". Zee News. 9 May 2006.
9. ^ Mar 9, Shantha Thiagarajan. "Coonoor's Black bridge to be named after Manekshaw | Chennai News". The Times of India.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
10. ^ Radhakrishnan, D. (14 January 2012). "Memorable Pongal at the Madras Regimental Centre". The Hindu.
11. ^ "Welcome to Defence Services Staff College, Wellington". 18 June 2014. Archived from the original on 18 June 2014.
12. ^ "New Commandant for DSSC". 12 March 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
13. ^ "Lt Gen Virendra Vats assumed the appointment of Commandant, Defence Services Staff College, Wellington on September 01, 2022". 1 September 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.

* v
* t
* e

Indian military academies and colleges

Education & training|

* Sainik School
* Armed Forces Medical College
* Ajmer Military School
* Bangalore Military School
* Belgaum Military School
* Chail Military School
* Dholpur Military School
* Rashtriya Indian Military College

| Sainik
Schools|

* Amaravathinagar
* Ambikapur
* Balachadi
* Bhubaneswar
* Bijapur
* Chittorgarh
* Goalpara
* Gopalganj
* Imphal
* Jhunjhunu
* Kapurthala
* Kazhakootam
* Kodagu
* Korukonda
* Kunjpura
* Lucknow
* Manasbal
* Nagrota
* Nalanda
* Punglwa
* Purulia
* Rewa
* Rewari
* Satara
* Sujanpur Tihra
* Tilaiya

|

Tri Service|

* Defence Services Staff College
* National Academy of Defence Production
* National Defence Academy
* National Defence College
* College of Defence Management
* Military Institute of Technology

Indian Army|

* Army Cadet College
* Army War College
* College of Military Engineering
* Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School
* High Altitude Warfare School
* Indian Military Academy
* Military College of Telecommunication Engineering
* Officers Training Academy
* Military College of Materials Management

Indian Air Force|

* Air Force Academy
* Air Force Administrative College
* Air Force School, Coimbatore
* Air Force School, Jodhpur
* Flying Instructors School
* Indian Air Force Test Pilot School
* Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment
* Air Defence College
* College of Air Warfare

Indian Navy|

* Indian Naval Academy
* Naval War College

Commandants|

* Commandant NDA
* Commandant IMA
* Commandant INA
* Commandant AFA
* Commandant DSSC
* Commandant CDM
* Commandant NWC
* Commandant CAW
* Commandant NDC
* Commandant MILIT

Examinations|

* Combined Defence Services Examination
* Services Selection Board

* Military academy
* Military education and training

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template