New Delhi: In his first order for a senior level appointment the newly created Department of Military Affairs headed by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Southern Army Commander Lieutenant General SK Saini has been made the new Vice Chief of Army Staff, and will take charge on January 25.

The post of Vice Chief of Army Staff fell vacant after Lt Gen MM Naravane, then vice chief, was elevated as the Chief of Army Staff.

Gneral Saini is an alumnus of Sainik School in Punjab’s Kapurthala, National Defence Academy in Pune, and the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun.

He was commissioned into the Jat Regiment in June 1981.

He has also served on international deputations including as the Deputy Chief Military Personnel Officer in the Iraq-Kuwait UN Mission, Global Peace Operations Initiative’s peacekeeping exercise in Mongolia, and a counter-terrorism exercise in Australia.