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General Bipin Rawat PVSM UYSM AVSM YSM SM VSM ADC (16 March 1958 – 8 December 2021) was an Indian military officer who was a four-star general of the Indian Army. He served as the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Indian Armed Forces from January 2020 until his death in a helicopter crash in December 2021. Prior to taking over as the CDS, he served as the 57th Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (Chairman COSC) of the Indian Armed Forces as well as 26th Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) of the Indian Army.

Born in Pauri, Pauri Garhwal district in present-day Uttarkhand to Lieutenant General Lakshman Singh Rawat, he graduated from the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy where he was awarded the Sword of Honour. He was commissioned into his father's unit - 11 Gorkha Rifles. He served during the 1987 Sino-Indian skirmish in the Sumdorong Chu valley. He commanded a company in Uri and his battalion - 5/11 GR along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh. Promoted to the rank of Brigadier, he commanded 5 sector Rashtriya Rifles in Sopore. He subsequently served with the United Nations as the Commander of a Multinational Brigade as part of MONUSCO.

Promoted to general officer, Rawat commanded the 19 Infantry Division at Uri. He then served as the Major General General Staff (MGGS) at Headquarters Eastern Command. In 2014, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and appointed General officer commanding (GOC) III Corps at Dimapur. During this tenure, the 2015 Indian counter-insurgency operation in Myanmar took place where units under his command executed cross-border strikes against the NSCN-K. In early 2016, Rawat was promoted to Army Commander grade and appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command. After a short stint, he moved to Army HQ as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff. In December that year, he was appointed the next Chief of the Army Staff superseding two senior generals. As the senior-most chief of staff amongst the three services, he served as the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee of the Indian Armed Forces from September to December 2019.

Early life and education


Bipin Rawat was born in Pauri town of Pauri Garhwal district, present-day Uttarakhand state, on 16 March 1958  to a Hindu Garhwali Rajput family. His family had been serving in the Indian Army for multiple generations. His father Lakshman Singh Rawat (1930–2015) was from Sainj village of the Pauri Garhwal district; commissioned into 11 Gorkha Rifles in 1951, he retired as Deputy Chief of the Army Staff in 1988 as a Lieutenant General. His mother was from the Uttarkashi district and was the daughter of Kishan Singh Parmar, the ex-Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Uttarkashi.

Rawat was educated at Cambrian Hall school in Dehradun and at the St. Edward's School, Shimla. He then joined the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, from where he graduated first in the order of merit and was awarded the 'Sword of Honour'.

Rawat was also a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington and the Higher Command Course at the United States Army Command and General Staff College (USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1997. From his tenure at the DSSC, he obtained an MPhil degree in Defence Studies as well as diplomas in Management and Computer Studies from the University of Madras. In 2011, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut for his research on military-media strategic studies.

Early career
Rawat was commissioned into the 5th battalion, the 11 Gorkha Rifles (5/11 GR) on 16 December 1978, the same unit as his father. During the 1987 Sino-Indian skirmish in the Sumdorong Chu valley, then Captain Rawat's battalion was deployed against the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The standoff was the first military confrontation along the disputed McMahon Line after the 1962 war.

Early in his career, Rawat had an instructional tenure at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. He had much experience in high-altitude warfare and spent ten years conducting counter-insurgency operations. He commanded a company in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir as a Major. He attended the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. After the course, he was appointed General Staff Officer, Grade 2 (GSO2) at the Military Operations Directorate at Army headquarters. He also served as a logistics staff officer of a Re-organised Army Plains Infantry Division (RAPID) in Central India. He attended the Higher Command Course at the United States Army Command and General Staff College (USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

As a Colonel, Rawat commanded his battalion, the 5th battalion, the 11 Gorkha Rifles, in the eastern sector along the Line of Actual Control at Kibithu. For his command of 5/11 GR, he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal on 26 January 2001. He also served as Colonel Military Secretary (Col MS) and Deputy Military Secretary in the Military Secretary’s Branch and as a Senior Instructor in the Junior Command Wing.

On 26 January 2005, he was awarded the Sena Medal for devotion to duty. Promoted to the rank of Brigadier, he commanded 5 Sector Rashtriya Rifles in Sopore. He was awarded the Yudh Seva Medal for his command of 5 Sector RR.

Personal life
Madhulika Rawat and then COAS Bipin Rawat at the NCC Reception, in New Delhi on 16 January 2018.

In 1985, Rawat married Madhulika Rawat (née Raje Singh). A descendant of an erstwhile princely family, she was the daughter of Kunwar Mrigendra Singh, sometime Riyasatdar of the pargana of Sohagpur Riyasat in Shahdol district and an Indian National Congress MLA from the district in 1967 and 1972. She was educated at Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya in Gwalior and graduated in psychology at University of Delhi. The couple had two daughters, Kritika and Tarini.

Madhulika Rawat was the president of the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) during Bipin Rawat's tenure as Chief of the Army Staff. She became the president of the Defence Wives Welfare Association (DWWA), upon the creation of the post and the appointment of General Bipin Rawat as the first CDS. She worked to make the wives of defence personnel financially independent. She was also involved with NGOs and welfare associations such as Veer Naris that assists widows of military personnel, differently-abled children and cancer patients.

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