Commandant of the Defence Services Staff College

The Commandant of the Defence Services Staff College is the head and overall in-charge of the Defence Services Staff College. The Commandant of the Academy is a Three-star rank officer from the Indian Army. He is supported by the chief instructors of the Army, Navy and Air wings, Major General in charge of Administration (MG IC Adm) (all two-star rank appointments), Brigadier General Staff (one-star appointment) and a staff officer (SO to Comdt) (an officer of the rank of major).^[1]

Commandant of the Defence Services Staff College
Crest of the College
Incumbent Lieutenant General Virendra Vats YSM SM VSM
Type	Military
Status	Active
Formation	15 August 1947; 77 years ago (15 August 1947)
First holder	Brigadier S D Verma
Website	www.dssc.gov.in

The Commandant is responsible to the Chiefs of Staff Committee through the Chairman of the Joint Training Committee.

Lieutenant General Virendra Vats, AVSM, SM, VSM is the present Commandant of the DSSC. He assumed office on 1 February 2022 from Lieutenant General MJS Kahlon.^[2]

History

The College was established in 1905 in Quetta (now in Pakistan). After the partition of India and Pakistan, the Indian elements of the Staff College, Quetta led by Colonel S D Verma moved to India. Promoted Brigadier and appointed as the First Commandant, Verma chose Wellington as the location of the Staff College in India.^[3] In 1948, Major General W D A Lentaigne, CB, CBE, DSO took over as the Commandant, the longest serving Commandant till date.

The appointment was upgraded to the Three-star rank of Lieutenant General in 1981.^[4]

List of Commandants

S.No.	Name	Assumed office	Left office	Notes
1	Brigadier S D Verma	1947	1948	Established the Staff College in India
2	Major General W D A Lentaigne, CB, CBE, DSO	1948	1955	Longest serving Commandant
3	Major General P S Gyani	1955	1959	Later served as Force Commander UNEF and Force Commander UNYOM.
4	Major General P P Kumaramangalam, DSO	1959	1959	Later served as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff and the 6th Chief of the Army Staff
5	Major General Sam Manekshaw, MC	1959	1962	Later served as the 7th Chief of the Army Staff. India's first Field Marshal.
6	Major General D Som Dutt	1962	1965	Later served as the First Director of MP-IDSA.[5]
7	Major General Har Prasad	1965	1968	Later served as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff
8	Major General R K Ranjit Singh	1968	1972
9	Major General S P Malhotra, PVSM	1972	1975	Later served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command.
10	Major General A M Sethna, AVSM	1975	1978	Later served as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff
11	Major General Mohinder Singh	1978	1982
12	Lieutenant General K Balaram, PVSM	1982	1984
13	Lieutenant General Mahipat Sinhji, PVSM	1984	1986
14	Lieutenant General F. N. Billimoria, PVSM	1986	1987	Later served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Central Command
15	Lieutenant General Gurinder Singh, AVSM	1987	1989
16	Lieutenant General K S Brar, PVSM, AVSM, VrC	1989	1990	Later served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command
17	Lieutenant General Y K Vadehra, AVSM	1990	1992	[6]
18	Lieutenant General B S Nalwa, PVSM	1992	1994
19	Lieutenant General V P Malik, AVSM	1994	1995	Later served as the 19th Chief of the Army Staff
20	Lieutenant General Baldev Singh, PVSM, AVSM	1995	1997
21	Lieutenant General A S Rao, PVSM, AVSM	1997	1999
22	Lieutenant General S R R Aiyengar, PVSM, AVSM	1999	2001	Earlier served as Commandant of the National Defence College
23	Lieutenant General P P S Bindra, PVSM, AVSM, VSM	2001	2003	[7][non-primary source needed]
24	Lieutenant General T P S Brar, PVSM, YSM	2003	2006
25	Lieutenant General B J Gupta, AVSM	2006	2008	[8]
26	Lieutenant General H P S Klair, SM	2008	2010	[9]
27	Lieutenant General B V Nair	2010	2011	[10]
28	Lieutenant General Chander Prakash, SM, VSM	2011	2013
29	Lieutenant General S K Gadeock, AVSM	2013	2017	[11]
29	Lieutenant General Amrik Singh, AVSM, SM	2017	2019
30	Lieutenant General Y V K Mohan, AVSM, SM, VSM	2019	2020	Earlier served as Commandant of the National Defence College
31	Lieutenant General MJS Kahlon, AVSM	2020	2022
32	Lieutenant General S Mohan, AVSM, SM, VSM	2022	2022	[12]
33	Lieutenant General Virendra Vats YSM, SM, VSM	2022	Present	[13]

See also

• Commandant of the National Defence College
• Commandant of Indian Naval Academy
• Commandant of the Indian Military Academy