The Central Command of the Indian Army is one of the seven operational commands of the army. It is based at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
| Central Command | |
|---|---|
 Central Command's insignia today | |
| Active | 1942–1946 1 May 1963[1] – Present |
| Country |  India |
| Branch |  Indian Army |
| Type | Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Lt General N. S. Raja Subramani |
| Notable commanders | Gen S F Rodrigues |
History edit
Second World War edit
Central Command was first established in 1942 during World War II and then disbanded in 1946.[2]Southern Command was responsible for most of the training activities for Indian Army until Central Command was formed in April 1942 which took over the responsibility of some of the training areas.[3]
Post 1962 Indo-China war edit
With its HQ at Lucknow the Command was re-established on 1 May 1963 due to the Sino-Indian War of 1962. Lt Gen K Bahadur Singh was the first Army Commander of the new Central Command. Prior to that date Lucknow had been the headquarters of the Eastern Command.[4][5]
Humanitarian assistance and flood relief operations edit
Central Command undertook humanitarian and Flood Relief Operations at various locations during flash floods including Delhi[6] and Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh).[7]
Structure edit
Central Command's Area Of Responsibility (AOR) covers eight states of India: Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha.[8] 18 Regimental Centres and a large number of logistic and training establishments come under Central Command. The responsibility for the central sector of the Western border with Pakistan also lies with Central Command.[9] Almost half of the 62 cantonments in India lie within the Central Command's theatre.[10]
There are two Static Area Formations:- Uttar Bharat Area and Madhya Bharat Area. Central Command earlier used to act as strategic reserve but now it is looking after Uttarakhand sector of Indo-Tibet and Indo-Nepal border.[11][12]
| Structure of Central Command | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corps | Corps HQ | GOC of Corps (Corps Commander) | Assigned Units | Unit HQ |
| XVIII Corps[13] | N/A | N/A | N/A | Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh |
| N/A | N/A | N/A | 14 RAPID Division | Dehradun, Uttarakhand |
| 50 (Independent) Parachute Brigade | Agra, Uttar Pradesh | |||
| 9 (Independent) Mountain Brigade | Joshimath, Uttarakhand | |||
| 136 (Independent) Mountain Brigade | Pooh, Himachal Pradesh | |||
| 119 (Independent) Mountain Brigade | Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand | |||
| N/A | N/A | N/A | Uttar Bharat Area | Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh |
| Madhya Bharat Area | Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh | |||
Precursors edit
Following is the list of precursors to the Western Command and their commanders:[2]
Central Command (1942–1946) edit
| General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Central Command | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Name | Appointment date | Left office | Unit of commission |
| Lieutenant General | Henry B. D. Willcox | May 1942 | December 1944 | Sherwood Foresters |
| General | Sir Geoffry A. P. Scoones | December 1944 | December 1946 | 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) |
List of GOC-in-C of Central Command (1963–present) edit
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Army pays poignant tributes to its martyrs & bravehearts". The Times of India. 3 May 2013. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
- ^ a b Army Commands Archived 5 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Alan Jeffreys; Patrick Rose (1 August 2012). The Indian Army 1939–47 Experience and Development. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 9781409456537. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
- ^ "Central Command Raising Day concludes". The Times of India. 3 May 2009. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
- ^ Subodh Kapoor (2002). The Indian Encyclopaedia: India (Central Provinces)-Indology. Genesis Publishing Pvt Ltd. p. 3372. ISBN 9788177552683. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
- ^ Hindustan Times (14 July 2023). Delhi Flood Situation Grim, Indian Army Steps In To Help Govt | More Rains Predicted In Uttarakhand. Retrieved 29 May 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ IndiaTV (20 February 2019). Himachal: One ITBP jawan killed, 5 missing in Kinnaur avalanche, rescue operation underway. Retrieved 29 May 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Theatre Commands". India Today. 20 November 2021.
- ^ "Commands of the Indian Army". Archived from the original on 2 June 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
- ^ Mukund Padmanabhan (11 May 2003). "Central Command's novel initiative". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
- ^ Bharat Verma; G. M. Hiranandani; B. K. Pandey (2008). Indian Armed Forces. Lancer Publishers. p. 16. ISBN 9780979617423. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
- ^ "Central Command earlier used to act as strategic reserve but now it is looking after uttrakhand sector of Chinese border. 14 Division is tasked for the role". Twitter. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- ^ "Army to set up new corps for operations along LAC". The Indian Express. 20 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ "Lieutenant General Khem Karan Singh, MVC: A great military leader". defenceinfo.com. 11 August 2016.
- ^ "General Nakai laid to rest with service honours". The Tribune.
- ^ "NEW ARMY C0MMANDERS ANNOUNCED" (PDF). 29 October 1989. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
- ^ "Ex-Western Army Commander Lt Gen Gautama passes away". 28 November 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
- ^ "Padmanabhan may be new Army Chief". The Tribune.
- ^ "Shortage of officers may continue". The Tribune.
- ^ "First IDS chief Lt Gen Joshi dies". The Times of India. 2 July 2009.
- ^ "New Army Vice-Chief". The Hindu. 5 September 2001.[dead link]
- ^ "Lt-Gen Subramanyam is new GOC-in-C". The Times of India. January 2004.
- ^ "Lt Gen Nandrajog takes over as Central Command GOC-in-C". Outlook.
- ^ "Senior Appointments : Army". pib.nic.in. PIB.
- ^ "LIEUTENANT GENERAL ANIL CHAIT TAKES OVER AS GOC-IN-C, CENTRAL COMMAND". Indian Army.
- ^ "Lt Gen Rajan Bakhshi takes over as GOC-in-C, Central Command". Indian Defence Review. November 2015.
- ^ "Lt Gen BS Negi appointed Central Command's new GOC-in-C (designate)". The Times of India. 6 December 2015.
- ^ "Lt Gen Abhay Krishna takes over as GOC-in-Chief of Central Command". The Times of India. October 2018.
- ^ Gurung, Shaurya Karanbir (23 July 2019). "Naravane appointed as new Vice Chief of Indian Army, four army commanders appointed". The Economic Times. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
- ^ "Lt Gen Yogendra Dimri appointed as next Commander-in-chief of Lucknow-based Central Army Command". ANI News. 27 February 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ "Lt. Gen. Raju shifted, new Vice-Chief named". The Hindu. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.