Historic First: Two classmates now lead Indian Army and Navy

For the first time in the history of the Indian armed forces, two classmates will serve as the chiefs of the Indian Army and Navy. Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi and Admiral Dinesh Tripathi, who studied together at Sainik School Rewa in Madhya Pradesh in 1970, will now lead their respective branches of the military 54 years later.

Lieutenant General Dwivedi, currently the Vice Chief of the Army Staff, is set to become the next Army chief, succeeding General Manoj Pande. Admiral Tripathi will lead the Navy. Remarkably, their roll numbers in class 5A were close: 931 for Lt Gen Dwivedi and 938 for Admiral Tripathi.

A Bharat Bhushan Babu, an official spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence, highlighted this unique achievement on social media platform X. He stated, “For the first time in Indian Military history, Chiefs of Navy and Army hail from the same school. This rare honour of nurturing two prodigious students, who would go on to lead their respective Services 50 years later, goes to Sainik School, Rewa in Madhya Pradesh.”

Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi, an alumnus of Sainik School Rewa, was born on July 1, 1964. He completed his education at Sainik School in 1981 and was subsequently commissioned into the 18 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles on December 15, 1984.

(with PTI inputs)