N C Rawlley

Lieutenant General Naveen Chand Rawlley, PVSM, AVSM, MC (15 August 1919 – 1 November 2004) was a General Officer in the Indian Army. He served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command before taking over as the 5th Vice Chief of the Army Staff.

Early life Rawlley was born on 15 August 1919. He attended the Bishop Cotton School in Shimla. He was also educated at Bombay subsequently.

Military career World War II Rawlley graduated from the Indian Military Academy and in 1941, he was commissioned into the 9th Battalion of the 12th Frontier Force Regiment on 15 May. In 1943, the battalion moved to Burma and saw action in the Burma Campaign. He was awarded the Military Cross during the Battle of Kohima. He commanded his battalion during the Battle of Imphal.

Post-Independence After Independence and the ensuing Partition of India, he opted to join the Indian Army. With the creation of the Brigade of the Guards in 1949, he was assigned to this regiment. Rawlley commanded the Fourth Battalion, the Brigade of Guards, the erstwhile First Battalion, the Rajput Regiment, twice, first from 1949 to 1950, and later from 1956 to 1957.

He attended the United States Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He served as the directing staff at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington for a period of three years.

He led the Indian Army team of officers which helped set up the Haile Selassie Military Academy in Harar, Ethiopia. After the academy was set up, he served as the first Commandant of the academy. For his outstanding services, the Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie made Rawlley a Grand officer of the Order of the Star of Ethiopia.

In 1961, he returned to India and took command of the 11th Infantry Brigade. He was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (then called Vishisht Seva Medal Class II) in January 1962. During the Sino-Indian War, the brigade fought well in Walong in the Lohit division of the then North-East Frontier Agency. The Battle of Walong was the only counterattack of the war.

Rawlley was appointed Commandant of the Infantry School in Mhow in 1963. After a short stint, he was selected to attended the Imperial Defence College in the United Kingdom. On 1 January 1964, he became the first Colonel of the Regiment of the Brigade of the Guards. Until then the Colonel was the Chief of the Army Staff. After the year-long course, he returned to India and was appointed Director of Military Operations (DMO) at Army headquarters.

Rawlley was promoted to Lieutenant General in August 1970. He succeeded Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora and took over as GOC-in-C Eastern Command at Fort William, Calcutta in February.

On 1 August 1974, Rawlley assumed office of the Vice Chief of the Army Staff from lieutenant General M L Thapan. Sita was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1977. She represented India on multiple occasions, both as a player and an official. She was a member of the Indian team which participated in the Queen Sirikit Cup in 1981 and 1983.

Dates of rank