Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India] August 30 (ANI): Lt Gen Devendra Sharma, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Army Training Command (ARTRAC), retired from the Indian Army after 39 years of distinguished service, bringing to a close a century-long military legacy of his family.
On his final day in service, Lt Gen Sharma paid homage to fallen soldiers at the Shradhanjali Sthal war memorial at Annadale in Shimla and inspected a Guard of Honour presented by the 111 Infantry Battalion Territorial Army (Kumaon).
Lt Gen Sharma, a second-generation military officer, comes from a family with a strong tradition of service to the nation. His late father, Wing Commander Shiv Kumar Sharma, was an Indian Air Force fighter pilot who participated in four campaigns. He survived a plane crash over Sargodha in 1965 and returned to flying, serving again during the 1971 war.
His father-in-law, Brig Sarjit Singh Kaler (retd.), served in the 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars, while his elder brother, Air Commodore Shailendra Sharma (retd.), was a Mirage-2000 pilot during the 1999 Kargil War.
Lt Gen Sharma was commissioned into The Scinde Horse on December 19, 1987, after being awarded the Sword of Honour and the Sikh Light Infantry Medal for Best Sportsman at the Indian Military Academy.
During his military career, he was awarded the Sena Medal (Gallantry) for his role in Operation Rakshak in Jammu and Kashmir. He went on to command The Scinde Horse, an armoured brigade, an infantry division and a pivot corps on the western front.
His career also included significant international assignments. He served as GSO-2 (Operations) with the Indian Military Training Team in Bhutan and later as Chief Military Personnel Officer with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).
Lt Gen Sharma assumed charge as the 25th Army Commander of ARTRAC on July 1, 2024. During his tenure, the command undertook several training reforms, including the introduction of drone warfare training for more than 50,000 personnel, the establishment of new combat ranges and the formulation of the COAS Quadrennial Training Directive 2025-2029.
He is the first officer from The Scinde Horse to attain the rank of Lieutenant General and serve as an Army Commander. For five years, he also served as Colonel of 12 armoured regiments.
With his retirement, Lt Gen Sharma concluded a 39-year military career and marked the end of a century-long family tradition of service in the armed forces. (ANI)
Lt Gen Devendra Sharma retires after 39 years of service; concludes century-long family military legacy
