Lt Gen Sarath Chand has taken over the command of Army's Gajraj 4 Corps based here from Lt Gen A K Ahuja who moved out to the Integrated HQ of the Ministry of Defence after a tenure of 14 months.
Gen Chand, who took charge yesterday as the General Officer Commanding (GOC), has a varied combat experience in Command and Staff appointments, including the command of his battalion in Counter Terrorist operations and Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the North East and command of a Brigade on the Indo-Pak border in the Desert Sector, defence sources said today.
He was also in command of the Rashtriya Rifles Force in Counter Terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir, had a stint in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, besides a variety of important instructional and staff appointments in different army establishments and formations as well as in the IHQ of MoD.
The new GOC has also served as part of the United Nations Mission in Somalia, has attended various career courses which include Defence Services Staff College, Higher Command and National Defence College, the sources said.
The highly decorated soldier, commissioned into the 11 Garhwal Rifles in June 1979, has been awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal among others, they added.
