Former COAS General S. Padmanabhan passes away in Chennai

Former Chief of Army Staff General S. Padmanabhan passes away in Chennai

Former Chief of Army Staff General S. Padmanabhan passed away in Chennai, officials said.

General Padmanabhan also served as the Chairman of the Chief of Staff Committee. He was commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery after graduating from the Indian Military Academy (IMA) on December 13, 1959.

He commanded an Independent Light Battery from August 1975 to July 1976 and later on commanded the Gazala Mountain Regiment from September 1977 to March 1980.

He served as Instructor Gunnery at the School of Artillery in Deolali, been a Brigade Major of an infantry brigade on its raising and served as Colonel General Staff of a Mountain Division from January 1983 to May 1985.

He commanded an Infantry Brigade from December 1988 to February 1991 at Ranchi, Bihar and Punjab and was then appointed as the General Officer Commanding of an Infantry Division in Punjab from March 1991 to August 1992.

He served as Chief of Staff, 3 Corps from September 1992 to June 1993. After his promotion to Lieutenant General, he was commander of the 15 Corps in the Kashmir valley from July 1993 to February 1995. It was during his tenure as the 15 Corps Comhe Army made big gains over the militants in Kashmir and could even scale down its operations.

General Padmanabhan held the post of Director General Military Intelligence after the successful culmination of which, he took over as the GOC of the Northern Command at Udhampur on 01 September 1996.