The Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat was born in March 1958. As an alumnus of National Defence Academy and Indian Military Academy, Rawat was commissioned to the fifth Bn (battalion) of the Eleventh Gorkha Rifles of the Indian army in December 1978.
General Bipin Rawat is the first Chief of Defence Staff appointed in 2019.
Bipin Rawat was a graduate from the Defence Services Staff college, Wellington. He also attended the command and general staff course at Fort Leavenworth, USA.
He was an alumnus of St.Edward school, Shimla and the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla. He was also awarded an M.Phil in Defence studies from University of Madras. He also did his diplomas in Management and Computer studies. Rawat was awarded Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D) from Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut.
Rawat during his service, served as a Brigade commander, Southern command, general staff officer grade 2 at the military operations directorate, and held many more positions.
He was awarded for his gallantry and distinguished service with the UYSM, AVSM, YSM, SM, VSM, COAS over the span of his 38 years of service. He was also a part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force, and was twice awarded the Force Commander’s Commendation while serving with the United Nations. He was also awarded the Sword of Honor from IMA, Dehradun.
In his career, one of the highlights was the 2015 cross border operation in Myanmar, where the Indian Army successfully responded to the NSCN-K militants. Rawat was also a part of planning the 2016 surgical strike.
General Rawat has authored numerous articles on National Security and Leadership which have been published in various publications.