Lt General Rana Pratap Kalita Takes Over As GOC-in-C of Indian Army's Eastern Command

Guwahati: Lieutenant General Rana Pratap Kalita has taken over as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Indian Army's Eastern Command on 1 February.

It is worth noting that Rana Pratap Kalita happens to be the first person from Assam and the Northeastern region as a whole, to have been appointed to such a senior position in the Indian Army.

Lt General Kalita was preceded by Lieutenant General Manoj Pande, who had served from 1 June 2021 to 31 January 2022. Lt General Pande has now been appointed as the vice chief of Army staff.

General MM Naravane, the current Chief of the Army Staff, also served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Indian Army's Eastern Command from 25 September 2018 to 31 August 2019.

Lt General Rana Pratap Kalita is a resident of Rangia town in Assam and is an alumni of Sainik School in Goalpara, Assam.

He happened to be an alumnus of the prestigious Indian Military Academy (IMA) which is located in Dehradun, the capital city of Uttarakhand.

He had been commissioned in 9 Kumaon Regiment back in 1984.

Prior to his appointment as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Indian Army's Eastern Command, he had served in various high ranking posts within the Indian Army.

He had served as the commander of the 3 corps and also happened to be the Chief of Staff of Eastern Command. He was also appointed to the post of Director General - Manpower Planning and Personnel Services at Army Headquarters.

Lt. General Kalita has received four awards during the course of his illustrious Army carrier. He was conferred with the Uttam Yudh Seva Medal (UYSM), Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM), Sena Medal (SM) and Vishisht Sena Medal (VSM).

The Eastern Command is one of the six operational commands of the Indian Army and is headquartered in Fort William in Kolkata and was formed on 01 November 1920. The Command is commanded by a three-star rank officer with the title General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C).

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