The Air Force has recalled Air Marshal T M Asthana as chief of the Southern Command of the Indian Air Force from Wednesday, in anticipation of the Cabinet Committee on Security clearing the setting up of the nuclear command.
The Strategic Forces Command, as it is to be called, would be cleared in the coming days and Asthana is expected to be its first commander, according to military sources.
Air Marshal A K Trikha will succeed Air Marshal T J Master, who is retiring on Tuesday from IAF's Bangalore based training command.
Vice Admiral S C S Bangara is replacing Air Marshal Trikha as the commandant of the prestigious National Defence Academy in Kadakwasala.
Through Tuesday and Wednesday, the Army too will undergo some changes, which includes a new Army chief, a new Vice Chief and a new Director General of Military Operations.
General Nirmal Chand Vij, the Director General of Military Operations during the Kargil war, has already taken over as the 21st Army Chief at a simple ceremony on Tuesday.
General Vij is not as media savvy as his predecessor General S Padmanabhan, whose tenure started on a high note and high expectations, but ended with much disappointment as the Army winds up its deployment along the border with Pakistan.
General Padmanabhan will fly to Chennai, where he will spend his retirement, on Tuesday. It has become customary for outgoing chiefs to fly out, on the day of their retirement, as they can avail the special aircraft reserved for them.
Lieutenant General Shantanu Chaudhary, the man who led the Indian Army during strategic sessions in the Kargil war, is taking over as the Vice Chief of Army staff from Vij.
Chaudhary has had ups and downs in his career in the last two years. He was denied promotion as Lieutenant General initially, when he was Major General and the Additional Director General of Military Intelligence.
Later, he was promoted as Lt General and posted as a Corps commander. But, in no time he was posted as the commander of Army Training Command in Shimla.
He has now returned to the headquarters as the Vice Chief, to whom Chaudhary's superior two years back, the Director General of Military Intelligence, will now be reporting.
Lt General J J Singh, who had a high profile presence in the directorate of military operations during Kargil, is replacing Chaudhary at the Army Training Command.
The Navy too is undergoing some changes, with Vice Admiral Arun Prakash, who is presently commanding country's first tri-service command at Andaman and Nicobar, taking over as the Western Naval Command chief on Wednesday.
The Mumbai-based Western Command is the most crucial naval command, and Prakash is expected to be the next naval chief.
Present Director General of the Coast Guard, Vice Admiral O P Bansal, is expected to take over from Vice Admiral Praksah.
Chief of Personnel of the Indian Navy, Vice Admiral S Mehta, is slated to take over as the new Coast Guard Director General.
