Jammu Tawi, July 31: Lieutenant General KJ Singh retired from the appointment of General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Chandimandir based Western Command today after an association of more than 50 years with the Army including 39 years of commissioned service. With the deadlock over postings of senior Army officers continuing, in a relatively rare development in recent years, the General Officer Commanding of Jalandhar-based 11 Corps, Lt Gen Jagbir Singh Cheema, has been nominated as officiating General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Command with effect from August 1.
The outgoing Army Commander, Lt Gen KJ Singh presided over a high level video conference with the Corps Commanders and Principal Staff Officers wherein the working modalities and response strategies were deliberated and finalized in the absence of a permanent Army Commander. He emphasized on maintaining high operational preparedness and swift response system to meet any contingency in the Western Theatre.
Lt. General K.J. Singh had taken over the charge of Western Command on 01 August 2014 and during a span of 24 months was instrumental in giving an impetus to the operational preparedness of Western Command by testing new concepts. His other focus areas were development of infrastructure, resolution of long pending issues with the civil administration, skilling and employment of Veterans. He steered establishment of Senior Veterans Home at Panchkula and Youth Outreach Program to motivate the youth to join the Armed Forces. The General Officer has also been instrumental in establishment of ‘Gyan Chakra' the first Think Tank on strategic issues in Tri-city. He has also steered operationalisation of infrastructure on Northern Borders in Himachal Pradesh resulting in establishment of two new Military Stations, Prithi (Averi Patti) and Him Yodha (Sumdo).
He has more than 50 years of stint in uniform as he joined Sainik School in 20 Jan 1966 in the aftermath of 1965 war. Since then, he has continued his journey through NDA, IMA and more than 39 years commissioned service in Army including tenures in counter insurgency areas and North East. He had a stint with United Nation in Angola for which he was awarded Force Commanders Citation for Bravery followed by COAS Commendation Card. This apart he has been conferred with PVSM, Bar to AVSM, AVSM and Eastern Army Commanders Commendation twice.
The appointment of Lt Gen Cheema is an interim arrangement till a permanent incumbent is posted. With this arrangement there will be no vacuum in the functioning of Headquarters Western Command and the chain of command will be intact.
It is not uncommon for the senior most Corps Commander in a command to officiate as the Army Commander in the absence of the permanent incumbent but veterans say this is the first time in many years that this arrangement has had to be resorted to in Western Command because the Army HQs has failed to post a replacement. Normally this is resorted to when the Army Commander is on leave or is incapacitated. In Western Command, the Chief of Staff also could not be appointed as officiating Army Commander because he will pick up the rank of Lt Gen on August 1 and has not commanded a Corps.
Lt Gen Jagbir Singh Cheema has been in Command of 11 Corps since August 21, 2015 and has operational experience of Counter Insurgency Operations in Jammu & Kashmir as also the North-East.
