New Army chief a 'rulebook general'

India has had "thinking" generals and "fighting generals as Chiefs of Army Staff (COAS). But his colleagues say Gen Deepak Kapoor, who took over as the 23rd Chief of Army Staff, is temperamentally a rulebook general "" one who will go by the book and will never deviate from any Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), no matter how unimportant the issue.

"Correct", "conservative" and "straight" are some of the adjectives his friends in the Army, both serving and retired, use to describe him.

The Army is watching his appointment with some relief after the "not so peaceful" tenure of his predecessor Gen JJ Singh, whose stewardship of the Army saw several internal issues of India's largest fighting force spilling out into the open, whether it was the question of fragging, promotions or rivalry among top officers.

Kapoor is the first COAS from a Sainik School, known to turn out rough-hewn and tough soldiers.

He was commissioned in the Corps of Artillery in June 1967, as a young officer. He participated in the war for liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, but arguably his most challenging assignment was representing the country as the Chief Operations Officer for the United Nations Forces deployed in Somalia from 1994 to 1995, for which, he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in January 1996.

Despite the apparent seamlessness of UN operations, only insiders know the extent of factional fighting that goes on in these forces and the depth of political management that is needed to make them effective.

Kapoor was also Brigade Commander in the 161 Brigade posted in Uri, along the Line of Control, another demanding job, after he returned from Somalia. For this, he was awarded the Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty) in January 1998. During operation Parakram, Kapoor commanded one of the most prestigious Divisions of a Strike Corps.

He went on to command a Corps in the North-East deployed along the Sino-Indian frontier. From 2005 to 2006, he commanded the largest and the most sensitive command of the Indian Army "" the Northern Command.

In his first Order of the Day to officers and all ranks of the Indian Army, Kapoor said, "My top priority would be to step up the pace of modernisation."

He added that cutting-age technology would be given to soldiers, for both policing the borders or countering internal unrest.

Married to Kirti, few know that whenever Kapoor was posted to a field area, he and his wife used to write letters to each other every single day.