The new leader of the Indian Army, Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi, and the new chief of the Indian Navy, Admiral Dinesh Tripathi, were students at Sainik School in the 1970s, located in the Rewa area of Madhya Pradesh, approximately 780 kilometers southeast of New Delhi.
On Sunday, June 30th, Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi, who is presently the Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS), will succeed General Manoj Pande as the 30th Chief of the Indian Army. Like the current Chief Admiral of the Indian Navy, Dinesh Tripathi, Lt Gen Dwivedi was a graduate of Sainik School, Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, before being commissioned into the 18 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, or JAK RIF, on December 15, 1984.
For the first time, two Sainik School alums will be leading their respective services. The Sainik Schools Society, a division of the Union Ministry of Defense, founded and oversees the Sainik School system of public education in India.
Early in the 1970s, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi and Army Chief Designate Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi attended the same school, having graduated from class 5th-A.
The appointments of the two Rewa School classmates likewise coincided, with a two-month interval between them.
On May 1st, Admiral Dinesh Tripathi assumed command of the Indian Navy, and on June 30th, Lt Gen Dwivedi assumed his new role.
“The Chiefs of the Army and Navy come from the same school for the first time in Indian military history. Sainik School, Rewa in Madhya Pradesh has the unique distinction of having produced two outstanding students who would go on to lead their respective Services 50 years later,” Defence Ministry Spokesperson Bharat Bhushan Babu wrote in a post on X.
It’s interesting to note that up until April, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhary, Army Chief Gen. Manoj Pande, and then-Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar were all graduates of the National Defense Academy. However, this is not out of the ordinary as the NDA frequently acts as a mediator in helping young Indians become troops in the armed forces.