FORMER CHIEFS OF THE
INTEGRATED SERVICE
COMMAND
Lt. Gen. Pankaj S Joshi
Lieutenant General Pankaj Shivram
Joshi
PVSM, AVSM,
VSM, ADC
Lieutenant General Pankaj Shivram Joshi assumed charge as the first Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (CIDS) on 01 October 2001. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA), he was commissioned into the 1/8 Gorkha Rifles in December 1962.
During his early career he served in Ladakh, actively participated in the 1965 Indo-Pak War and served in Sikkim, where in 1967 he was wounded in a mine lifting operation and lost both legs. He holds a BA degree in Russian language from Jawaharlal Nehru University, an M.Sc degree from Madras University and a diploma in National Security Management from National Defence University, Washington D.C.
He is a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington, the Higher Command Course at the College of Combat, Mhow and the United States Army War College. He has held various important instructional and staff appointments including those at DSSC, the Higher Command Wing (College of Combat, Mhow) and at Army HQ. His command experience includes the command of a mechanised infantry battalion, an armoured brigade, an armoured division and 12 Corps. In addition, Lt. Gen. Joshi also held appointment of Additional Director General, Mechanical Forces at Army HQ and Commandant at College of Combat, Mhow.
Before being appointed as CIDS, he was the GOC-in-C Central Command at Lucknow. As the CIDS, he oversaw the creation of the CDS structure and is the apt choice to oversee the overhauling of Indian defence management. And the lack of both his legs is only a splendid tribute to the spirit needed in modern day warfare, where joint operations are the only viable way out for professional forces. This 'Thinking General' struggled, actually triumphed, through the rank and file of a one-million-strong Indian Army to become a Lieutenant General. There are only little over 70 Lieutenant Generals in the Indian Army at a given time. His struggles have not just been against his physical shortcomings, but also against dated military minds. He retired from the post of CIDS and from the Indian Army on 30 September 2003, after nearly 41 years of glorious service.