Army Chiefs

General Vishwa Nath Sharma

PVSM, AVSM
COAS, 30 April 1988 - 30 June 1990
Armoured Corps, 16 Light Cavalry

 

General Vishwanath Sharma assumed charge of the Indian Army, as the 15th Chief of Army Staff, on 30 April 1988. General Sharma belongs to a distinguished military family whose members have served in the Armed Forces for two generations and produced three Generals. He is the son of Major General Amarnath Sharma who retired as the Deputy Director General of Medical Services. His oldest brother is none other than the late Major Somnath Sharma, who was awarded Independent India's first posthumous Param Vir Chakra - the highest medal for gallantry - on 03 November 1947 for the Battle of Bagdam in Kashmir in October 1947. His older brother, Lieutenant General Surindranath Sharma, retired from the Army as Engineer-in-Chief and his younger sister, Kamla Tewary, is a doctor retired from the Army as a Major. Lieutenant General Surindranath Sharma's youngest son, Major Gautam Shavnik, continues the long time family tradition of serving in the Indian Army.

General Vishwanath Sharma was educated at Sherwood College, Nanital and later at the Prince of Wales' Royal Indian Military College at Dehradun. He joined the 5th Regular Course at the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehra Dun and was the first recipient of the Rajputana Rifles Gold Medal for tactics and leadership. He was commissioned into the 16 Light Cavalry on 04 June 1950 and was on the rolls of this Armoured Regiment for 16 years. He has held important commands, staff appointments and instructional assignments. As a young Major, he saw action during the 1965 Indo-Pak War in the Lahore sector.

As a Lieutenant Colonel, he commanded the 66 Armoured Regiment and was later appointed as an instructor at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. During the 1971 Indo-Pak War, he served as the Colonel General Staff Operations of an Armoured Division. On promotion to Brigadier, he commanded a mountain brigade in an insurgency affected area and was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) for distinguished service. Later he commanded an armoured brigade in the Rajasthan desert was appointed Brigadier General Staff of a Strike Corps in the Western sector. In 1980, he was promoted to Major General and commanded a mountain division in the eastern sector. He then served as Deputy Director, General Military Operations at the Army HQ. He was promoted to Lieutenant General and took over command of a reserve Corps in the western sector in 1984.

General Sharma was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) for rendering distinguished services of the most exceptional order in March 1986. He was later appointed Commandant of the prestigious College of Combat at Mhow. He is a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington and the National Defence College (NDC), New Delhi. He has had vast experience in serving in all border regions with their varied terrain and types of operations. He is considered an authority in both mobile operations and mountain warfare. He took over as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command on 01 June 1987. He is the Colonel of the 66th Armoured Regiment and was appointed as the Honorary Army ADC to the President on 25 July 1987. He retired on 30 June 1990, after completing 40 years of distinguished service to the nation.