Two Coursemates, Two Classmates Now Lead India's 3 Armed Force Services

With the appointment of Air Marshal AP Singh as the next Chief of Air Staff, two coursemates and two classmates will now be heading the three services - the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

With these appointments, all three forces - the Army, Navy, and Air Force - would have seen change in leadership in the last five months.

While Indian Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi and Air Marshal AP Singh are coursemates from the 65th course or the National Defence Academy and graduate from there in 1983, General Dwivedi and Indian Navy chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi are classmates from the Sainik School, Rewa in Madhya Pradesh.

Admiral Tripathi took over as the Chief of Naval Staff on April 30, while General Dwivedi took over on July 31.

As per the orders issued for the appointment of the next Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal AP Singh would be taking over on September 30.

With a strong bonding in the National Defence Academy, General Dwivedi, Admiral Tripathi and Air Marshal AP Singh are good friends and this is going to help in increasing the synergy between the three services.

Such bonding among the senior leadership would be of greater help in present times when the Department of Military Affairs, led by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan, is working on creating theatre commands for the defence forces.

The three services are also working on having common assets required for operations.