Lt Gen DS Hooda

Commissioned into the 4th Battalion of the 4th Gorkha Rifles on 15 Dec 1976, Lt Gen Hooda, in his initial service served in Nagaland, during the height of the Naga insurgency.

He attended the prestigious Command and Staff College in Canada and was selected as the first Chief Logistics Officer for the newly raised United Nations Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea. He played a key role in setting up the mission throughout Eritrea in terms of camps, engineering and communications support, and food and health services.

During the massive earthquake of Jammu and Kashmir in 2005, he led the military’s rescue and relief efforts in the Uri sector. As a major general in Manipur, he was responsible for counterinsurgency operations in Manipur and South Assam.

From 2012 to 2016, he was stationed in Jammu and Kashmir, first as a Corps commander and then as the Army Commander of Northern Command. In this assignment, he handled numerous strategic challenges along the borders, both with Pakistan and China, as well as leading the Army’s counterterrorism operations in Jammu and Kashmir. In the wake of the Uri attack, he planned and conducted the surgical strikes against Pakistan in September 2016. He retired in November 2016 after 40 years of service in the Army.

In recognition of his exemplary military service, he has been awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal twice, the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, the Uttam Yudh Seva Medal,and the Param Vishisht Seva Medal.

Lt Gen Hooda is a co-founder of the Council for Strategic and Defense Research, a New Delhi based think-tank and a Distinguished Fellow for military strategy at the Delhi Policy Group. He has delivered numerous talks to corporate houses, academic institutions, think-tanks, and security establishments on leadership, motivation, managing crises, disaster management, and national security. He has been a regular contributor to newspapers, on-line media portals and professional journals on national and international affairs.