Group Captain Varun Singh, SC, Directing Staff at DSSC, the sole survivor of the crash, is undergoing treatment at Military Hospital in Wellington. Sources said the chopper crashed just minutes before reaching its destination in Tamil Nadu's Wellington.

 

A veteran of counterinsurgency warfare, CDS Rawat served in the most difficult terrain, including northern and eastern commands. CDS Rawat was commissioned into the Indian Army in December 1978. He previously served as Chief of the Army Staff from January 2017 to December 2019. He took charge of the Chief of Defence Staff in January 2020.

 

In his celebrated military career that spanned over 42 years, Gen. Bipin Rawat held multiple portfolios as the General Staff Officer at Military Operations Directorate, the Colonel and later Deputy Military Secretary in the Military Secretary's Branch, the Major General Staff of the Eastern Theatre, Vice Chief of the Army Staff.

 

CDS Rawat was instrumental in creating a foundation of India's joint theatre commands, a major reform in Indian military establishment since Independence and also for changing the way the Army had been functioning for many decades.

 

As the nation mourns the death of CDS Rawat, other defence officials, take a look at some of the rare photographs of the brave man who was born to serve in the Indian Army. From childhood to early days in service, here are some photos of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, who died in a helicopter crash earlier today.