Ranbir Singh (general)

Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, PVSM, AVSM & Bar, YSM, SM, ADC is a former General Officer in the Indian Army. He last served as the General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Northern Command. He assumed office on 1 June 2018 from Lt Gen Devraj Anbu who assumed the office of Vice Chief of the Army Staff.[1][2][3] He was the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of the Indian Army during the 2016 Indian Line of Control strike & during the 2015 Indian counter-insurgency operation in Myanmar he was Additional Director General of Military Operations (ADGMO).[4] He was considered the face of the operations because he briefed the media after both the strikes.[5]


Ranbir Singh

Allegiance India
Service/branch Indian Army
Years of service13 December 1980 – 31 January 2020
Rank Lieutenant General
Service numberIC-39070P
Unit9 Dogra
Commands held Northern Army
I Corps
33 Armoured Division
181 Mountain Brigade
Awards Param Vishisht Seva Medal
Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (Bar)
Yudh Seva Medal
Sena Medal
Spouse(s)Kalpana
RelationsColonel Manmohan Singh (retd) (Uncle)

Early life and education edit

Singh is from Jalandhar and his family belongs to Ambala Jattan, Hoshiarpur district, Punjab. His father, who was a JCO in the Indian Army, died when he was young. His uncle, Colonel Manmohan Singh (retd), adopted him when he was three years old.[6][7]

He is an alumnus of St. Joseph’s Convent School, Lajpat Nagar; Sainik School, Kapurthala; National Defence Academy, Pune and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. He has also attended Defence Services Staff College, Wellington; Faculty of Studies at Army War College, Mhow and Royal College of Defence Studies, London.[8][9][7][6]

Career edit

Singh was commissioned into the 9th battalion, Dogra Regiment on 13 December 1980. He has held various important Command, Staff and Instructor appointments during his career. He is considered to be an expert at counter insurgency operations, operational art and information operations. He has also served in the military operations directorate as a Colonel and Brigadier. His commands include the 181 Mountain Brigade, 33 Armoured division and I Corps (Mathura). He has held various staff appointments including that of Additional Director General of Military Operations(ADGMO) when he was Major general, Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) and Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Information Systems and Training). He has also served in UN Peacekeeping Missions to Rwanda and as a Chief Operations Officer at Sudan.[9][8][10][11][12][2][3]

During his career, he has been awarded the Yudh Seva Medal (2010) as the Brigadier of 181 Mountain Brigade, the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal twice (2015, 2018) for his service, and the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2020.[13][14][10][15]

Honours and decorations edit

   
       
       
       
       
Param Vishisht Seva Medal Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (Bar)
Yudh Seva Medal Sena Medal Samanya Seva Medal Siachen Glacier Medal
Special Service Medal Operation Vijay Medal Operation Parakram Medal Sainya Seva Medal
High Altitude Service Medal Videsh Seva Medal 50th Anniversary of Independence Medal 30 Years Long Service Medal
20 Years Long Service Medal 9 Years Long Service Medal UNAMIR UNMIS

Dates of rank edit

Insignia Rank Component Date of rank
  Second Lieutenant Indian Army 13 December 1980[16]
  Lieutenant Indian Army 13 December 1982[17]
  Captain Indian Army 13 December 1985[18]
  Major Indian Army 13 December 1991[19]
  Lieutenant-Colonel Indian Army 31 December 2002[20]
  Colonel Indian Army 1 February 2005[21]
  Brigadier Indian Army 1 November 2008 (seniority from 21 January 2008)[22]
  Major General Indian Army 26 June 2013 (seniority from 9 April 2011)[23]
  Lieutenant-General Indian Army 2 December 2015[24]

Personal life edit

Singh met his wife when he was posted in Mumbai and they have a son.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ "Lt Gen Ranbir Singh appointed Northern Army Commander - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  2. ^ a b "'Face of Indian Army' Lt Gen Ranbir Singh appointed Northern Army Commander". The Week. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, who announced surgical strikes, is Northern Army Commander". The Economic Times. 1 June 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  4. ^ Pubby, Manu (14 July 2018). "Lt Gen Ranbir Singh avenges death of soldiers from his Dogra regiment". The Economic Times. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Meet Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, man of the moment after announcement of strikes". Hindustan Times. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  6. ^ a b c "I see it as my 85th birthday gift, says father".
  7. ^ a b "Kapurthala Cong rallies behind Amarinder". Archived from the original on 7 December 2017.
  8. ^ a b Shukla, Tarun (30 September 2016). "Meet Ranbir Singh, the face of India's surgical strikes across LoC". livemint.com/. Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Lt Gen Ranbir Singh takes charge of Strike Corps". The Economic Times. 30 November 2016. Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  10. ^ a b "Republic Day Gallantry and other Defence Decoration". pib.nic.in. Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  11. ^ "Lt General Ranbir Singh promoted to GOC Strike 1 Corps, AK Bhatt new DGMO". Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  12. ^ "Lt General Taranjit Singh assumes Command Of Strike 1". www.aninews.in. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  13. ^ "390 Republic Day Gallantry and Other Defence Decorations Announced".
  14. ^ "President Confers Gallantry and Distinguished Service Awards". pib.nic.in. Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  15. ^ http://164.100.117.97/WriteReadData/userfiles/List%20of%20all%20gallantry%20and%20distinguished%20service%20awardees.%20-%20Copy%201.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  16. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 17 April 1982. p. 550.
  17. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 27 August 1983. p. 1395.
  18. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 11 October 1986. p. 1536.
  19. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 20 June 1992. p. 1103.
  20. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 4 September 2004. p. 1250.
  21. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 25 March 2006. p. 412.
  22. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 10 April 2010. p. 605.
  23. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 28 March 2015. p. 695.
  24. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 23 July 2016. p. 1671.
Military offices
Preceded by General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command
1 June 2018 – 31 January 2020
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Shokin Chauhan
General Officer Commanding I Corps
30 November 2016 – 28 December 2017
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Director General of Military Operations Succeeded by