Lt Gen Manoj Pandey will be the new Army Chief of the country. He is the first engineer to reach the rank of 29th Army Chief. Till now only Infantry, Artillery and Armored officers have become the Chief of Army. Lt Gen Manoj Pandey will succeed Gen MM Naravane. Lt Gen Pandey is currently the Vice Chief of the Army Staff.
Before becoming the Vice Chief of the Army Staff, he served as the Eastern Army Commander. He commanded the Engineer Regiment on the Line of Control (LOC) during Operation Parakram in Jammu and Kashmir.
Lt Gen Manoj Pandey commanded the Engineer Regiment along the Line of Control during Operation Parakram in Jammu and Kashmir. Along with this, he has commanded an engineer brigade in the western sector, an infantry brigade along the LoC and a hill division in the high altitude areas of western Ladakh and a corps in the northeast.