General MM Naravane, Chief of Army Staff, has been named Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (Chairman, CoSC), taking over the duties of late General Bipin Rawat, after the latter succumbed to a helicopter crash on December 8.

Born on 22 April 1960, General MM Naravane PVSM AVSM SM VSM ADC is the 27th Chief of the Army Staff of India (COAS). After General Bipin Rawat’s time as COAS came to an end on December 31, 2019, he took over. Prior to his appointment as COAS, the general served as the Indian Army’s 40th Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS), Eastern Command’s General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), and Army Training Command’s General Officer Commanding-in-Chief.

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Naravane is a Maharashtra native. His father, Mukund Naravane, is a former Indian Air Force officer who retired with the rank of Wing Commander, and his mother, Sudha, was an All India Radio presenter. He received his education at Pune’s Jnana Prabodhini Prashala. 

He attended the National Defence Academy in Pune as well as the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun. He also possesses a master’s degree in defence studies from the University of Madras in Chennai, as well as an M.Phil. in defence and management studies from the Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya in Indore, and is currently pursuing a PhD in defence and strategic studies at Punjabi University in Patiala.

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In June 1980, Naravane was commissioned into the 7th battalion of the Sikh Light Infantry. In Jammu and Kashmir, he commanded the 2nd Battalion (SikhLi) of the Rashtriya Rifles as well as the 106 Infantry Brigade. He has also served as Inspector General (North) of the Assam Rifles in Kohima, Nagaland. He has participated in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir, Northeast India, and the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka during Operation Pawan. 

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He has further served as a Brigade Major in an Infantry Brigade and as the Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General (AA&QMG) of Headquarters Establishment No. 22. The general was also Myanmar’s Military Attaché in Yangon.