Former Army Chief General Sundararajan Padmanabhan passed away at the age of 83. He breathed his last in Chennai. Born on 5 December 1940 in Trivandrum, Kerala, he is an alumnus of the prestigious Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehradun and National Defense Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, Pune. General Sundararajan Padmanabhan took charge of the Indian Army as the 20th Army Chief on 30 September 2000.
After graduating from the Indian Military Academy (IAM) on 13 December 1959, he was commissioned in the Artillery Regiment. His illustrious career includes several prestigious command, staff and instructional postings, besides participation in several operations. He graduated from the Defense Services Staff College (DSSC) in Wellington and the National Defense College (NDC), New Delhi in 1973.
been part of many wars
General Sundararajan Padmanabhan commanded an independent light battery from August 1975 to July 1976 and later commanded the Gazala Mountain Regiment from September 1977 to March 1980. This mountain regiment is one of the oldest artillery regiments of the Indian Army and has participated in many wars.
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General Sundararajan Padmanabhan served as Instructor Gunnery at the Artillery School at Deolali, Brigade Major of an infantry brigade and Colonel General Staff, Mountain Division from January 1983 to May 1985, where he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal (Vishisht Seva Medal). VSM) was awarded. He has also spent two terms as an instructor in IMA.
People used to call Paddy affectionately.
He was fondly known as Paddy among the army people. Before attending the prestigious NDC course in Delhi, he had commanded an independent artillery brigade and a mountain brigade. He commanded an infantry brigade in Ranchi, Bihar and Punjab from December 1988 to February 1991 and was then appointed as General Officer Commanding an Infantry Division in Punjab from March 1991 to August 1992.
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General Sundararajan Padmanabhan served as Chief of Staff of 3 Corps from September 1992 to June 1993. After promotion to the rank of Lieutenant General, he was Commander of 15 Corps in the Kashmir Valley from July 1993 to February 1995. It was during his tenure as 15 Corps Commander that the Army achieved major success against terrorists in Kashmir and was even able to scale down their operations. He was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) for his services as 15 Corps Commander.
Before being appointed Army Chief, General Sundararajan Padmanabhan was the GOC of the Southern Command. He retired on 31 December 2002 after completing more than 43 years of distinguished military service.