Director General of Military Operations (India)

The Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) is a senior officer of the Indian Army, based at Army Headquarters. The DGMO is a three-star officer of the rank of Lieutenant general who oversees all military operations of the Indian Army.

The DGMO plans, coordinates and supervises military operations and serves as the Army's operational point of contact with foreign militaries. The DGMO also acts as a liaison between the different branches of the armed forces for joint operations. DGMOs also serve as the primary officers who prevent escalation during times of conflict with other countries as point of contacts. During major Indo-Pakistan conflicts, DGMOs have served a major role of communication and de-escalation.

History After the Independence of India, on 15 August 1947, Brigadier Pran Nath Thapar was appointed the Director of Military Operations & Intelligence (DGMO&I). In 1948, after Brigadier J. N. Chaudhuri demitted office, the appointment was divided into Director of Operations (DMO) and Director of Intelligence (DMI). Brigadier Sam Manekshaw took over as the DMO. The appointment was upgraded to two-star rank in the late 1960s. It was further upgraded to three-star rank in the 1980s and re-designated Director General of Military Operations (DGMO).

List of officeholders

Director of Military Operations & Intelligence Rank Name Photo Assumed office Left office Operations ReferencesBrigadierPran Nath Thapar15 August 1947November 1947Partition of IndiaJayanto Nath ChaudhuriNovember 1947May 1948India–Pakistan war of 1947–1948

Director of Military Operations Rank Name Photo Assumed office Left office Operations ReferencesBrigadierSam ManekshawMay 1948April 1954Gopal Gurunath BewoorD. C. Noronha1961D. K. Palit19611964Sino-Indian WarN. C. Rawlley1964May 1965Narinder SinghMay 1965India–Pakistan war of 1965Major GeneralKhem Karan SinghOctober 1971Inderjit Singh GillOctober 1971Indo-Pakistani war of 1971Zorawar Chand BakhshiOctober 1973September 1974Arun Shridhar VaidyaOctober 1974Manohar Lal Chibber

Director General of Military Operations Rank Name Photo Assumed office Left office Operations ReferencesLieutenant GeneralC. N. SomannaJanuary 1985Operation Blue StarPrem Nath HoonMay 1985May 1986R. N. MahajanJune 1986Bipin Chandra Joshi1986April 1989V. K. SinghSatish NambiarMarch 1992Vivek OberoiV. R. Raghavan1994Nirmal Chander Vij15 February 19991 October 2000Kargil WarGurbaksh Singh Sihota9 October 2001Sarvjit Singh Chahal9 October 2001Operation ParakramBalraj Singh Takhar1 March 2004A S Bahia01 March 200401 February 2005Madan Gopal1 July 2006Mohan Pande1 July 20062008Chandra ShekharA. S. SekhonAnand Mohan VermaMay 20119 January 2012A. K. Choudhary9 January 20121 October 2012Vinod Bhatia1 October 201228 February 20142013 North India floodsP. R. Kumar28 February 2014November 20152015 Indian counter-insurgency operation in MyanmarRanbir SinghNovember 2015November 20162016 Indian Line of Control strikeAnil Kumar BhattNovember 201630 January 2018Anil Chauhan30 January 201815 October 20192019 India–Pakistan border skirmishesParamjit Singh15 October 2019April 2021Operation Snow LeopardB. S. RajuApril 202130 April 2022Manoj Kumar Katiyar1 May 202230 June 2023Pratik Sharma1 July 202325 October 2024Rajiv Ghai 25 October 2024September 2025Operation SindoorManish LuthraSeptember 2025June 2026Abhijit S. PendharkarJune 2026Incumbent

See also Director General Naval Operations Director General Air Operations

References

Bibliography