Bipin Chandra Joshi

General Bipin Chandra Joshi PVSM, AVSM, ADC
Born	1935 Pithoragarh, United Provinces, British India (now Uttarakhand, India)
Died	19 November 1994 Military hospital in New Delhi
Allegiance	India
Service/branch	Indian Army
Years of service	1954–1994
Rank	General
Commands held	Southern Army
Awards	Param Vishisht Seva Medal Ati Vishisht Seva Medal

General Bipin Chandra Joshi, PVSM, AVSM, ADC (Hindi: बिपिन चन्द्र जोशी, 1935 – November 19, 1994) was the 17th Chief of Army Staff (COAS) of the Indian Army. He was born in Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand.

Career

• Commissioned in December 1954 into the 64 Cavalry Regiment, Indian Army Armoured Corps.
• Commanded an armoured regiment in the Western Sector during the 1971 Indo-Pak operations.^[1] He also commanded an Independent Armoured Brigade and an Infantry Division.
• Military Advisor in Australia from May 1973 to October 1976^[1]
• Staff officer in the UN Force in Gaza^[1]
• Brigadier General Staff in a Corps Headquarters^[1]
• Commanded a Corps in the Eastern Sector^[1]
• General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command.^[1]
• Additional Director General of Perspective Planning (ADG PP) & Director General Military Operations (DGMO) at the Army Headquarters^[1]
• Three tenures as an instructor in the Armoured Corps Centre and School, Ahmednagar^[1]
• Directed Staff in the College of Combat, Mhow^[1]
• Established the Army Institute of Technology in Pune (Engineering College), Maharashtra in August 1994 for the wards of defence personnel, either in service or retired.

General Joshi also became Colonel of the Regiment (a ceremonial military patron's post) for the 64 Cavalry later in his career.

Medals

General B. C. Joshi has been a recipient of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service of the most exceptional order.

Death

General B. C. Joshi died off a cardiac arrest in New Delhi Military Hospital on November 19, 1994.^[2] He was due to retire in 1995. He is the only Chief of Indian Army who died in harness.

Legacy

The Gen. B. C. Joshi Army Public School was established in 1993 in Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand in his honour.^[3]

Honours and decorations

Param Vishisht Seva Medal
Ati Vishisht Seva Medal	Samanya Seva Medal	Paschimi Star	Special Service Medal
Raksha Medal	Sangram Medal	Sainya Seva Medal	Videsh Seva Medal
25th Anniversary of Independence Medal	30 Years Long Service Medal	20 Years Long Service Medal	9 Years Long Service Medal

References

External links

• Book titled Man, culture, and society in the Kumaun Himalayas: General B. C. Joshi commemoration volume (ISBN 8185865299) - includes brief articles on General B. C. Joshi
• http://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/19/obituaries/gen-bipin-chandra-joshi-indian-army-chief-59.html
• http://www.timescontent.com/tss/showcase/preview-buy/29780/News/General-Bipin-Chandra-Joshi.html

Chief of the Army Staff (India)
Commander-in-Chief, Indian Army (1947–1955)	Rob Lockhart ** Roy Bucher** K.M. Cariappa Rajendrasinhji Jadeja
Chief of the Army Staff (1955–present)	Rajendrasinhji Jadeja S. M. Shrinagesh Kodandera Subayya Thimayya Pran Nath Thapar Joyanto Nath Chaudhuri Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam Sam Manekshaw Gopal Gurunath Bewoor Tapishwar Narain Raina Om Prakash Malhotra K. V. Krishna Rao Arun Shridhar Vaidya Krishnaswamy Sundarji Vishwa Nath Sharma Sunith Francis Rodrigues Bipin Chandra Joshi Shankar Roychowdhury Ved Prakash Malik Sundararajan Padmanabhan Nirmal Chander Vij Joginder Jaswant Singh Deepak Kapoor V. K. Singh Bikram Singh Dalbir Singh
(**Seconded from the British Army)