On 30 June 2026, General Dhiraj Seth took over as the 31st Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) from General Upendra Dwivedi, who superannuated after more than four decades of service. The incoming Chief is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, was commissioned into the Armoured Corps in December 1986, and has commanded at every level — an armoured regiment in the desert, an armoured brigade in the western theatre, a counter-insurgency force in Jammu & Kashmir, the Sudarshan Chakra Corps (a premier strike formation), and later both the South Western and Southern Commands. For an NDA/CDS aspirant, the change of Army Chief is the ideal prompt to lock down a perennially examinable topic: the Indian Army's leadership and organisational structure.
The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS)
Start with the appointment itself:
- The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) is the professional head and senior-most officer of the Indian Army, a four-star General who exercises command, discipline and administration over the force.
- The COAS is headquartered at Army Headquarters (Integrated Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence (Army)) in New Delhi, and is appointed by the President of India, who is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
- A General's tenure as Chief is normally 3 years or until the age of 62, whichever is earlier.
- Each service has its own chief — COAS (Army), Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), and Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) — together the three Service Chiefs.
A vital distinction the examiner loves: the rank of Field Marshal is a ceremonial five-star rank, held by only two officers in Indian history — Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw and Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa — whereas a serving Army Chief is a four-star General. Fix this institutional backbone, exactly the kind built up in the NDA general-knowledge study material.
The COAS, the CDS and the new tri-service structure
A high-yield modern addition is the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS):
- The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) — a post created in 2019 (first held by General Bipin Rawat) — is the single-point military adviser to the government and head of the Department of Military Affairs (DMA).
- The CDS is NOT in the operational chain of command over the individual services; the Service Chiefs (including the COAS) retain command of their forces. The CDS focuses on jointness, integration and theatre commands.
- The COAS is also a member of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC), the forum of the three Service Chiefs.
The clean revision line: Service Chiefs (COAS/CNS/CAS) command their services; the CDS coordinates and drives jointness. This integration agenda — including the proposed theatre commands — is the cutting edge of India's defence reform, the kind of theme serving-officer faculty unpack in the upcoming Cavalier courses in Delhi.
The Indian Army's command structure
The Indian Army is organised into seven commands — a very testable list (six operational + one training):
- Northern Command — Udhampur (J&K / the China and Pakistan northern fronts);
- Western Command — Chandimandir;
- South Western Command — Jaipur;
- Eastern Command — Kolkata (the China eastern front / North-East);
- Southern Command — Pune (the largest by area);
- Central Command — Lucknow;
- Army Training Command (ARTRAC) — Shimla (the lone training command).
Each command is headed by a General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the rank of Lieutenant General (three-star). The incoming Chief's experience of commanding two operational commands (South Western and Southern) is precisely the kind of broad exposure expected of an Army Chief.
The fighting chain: corps, division, brigade
Below the commands, the Army's fighting formations follow a clear hierarchy — a favourite "arrange in order" question:
- Corps — commanded by a Lieutenant General (GOC, three-star); a corps groups several divisions. Strike formations like the Sudarshan Chakra Corps are the Army's offensive punch.
- Division — commanded by a Major General (two-star, "GOC"); typically 10,000–15,000 troops.
- Brigade — commanded by a Brigadier; around 3,000 troops.
- Battalion / Regiment — commanded by a Colonel; the basic tactical unit (~800–900 troops), below which sit the company, platoon and section.
A clean ladder to memorise: Command → Corps → Division → Brigade → Battalion → Company → Platoon → Section. Pair the formation with its commander's rank, and you can answer almost any structure question.
Arms, ranks and the fighting components
Round out the picture with the Army's components and ranks:
- The Army's combat power is grouped into the arms — Infantry, Armoured Corps (tanks), Mechanised Infantry, Artillery (Regiment of Artillery), Army Air Defence, Army Aviation and the Corps of Engineers — supported by the services (Signals, Supply, Ordnance, EME, AMC, etc.). The new Chief comes from the Armoured Corps, the tank arm.
- Commissioned-officer ranks rise from Lieutenant → Captain → Major → Lieutenant Colonel → Colonel → Brigadier → Major General → Lieutenant General → General (COAS).
- Officers are largely trained at the NDA, Khadakwasla (the tri-service academy) and the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun — the route most NDA aspirants are aiming for.
The big picture for an aspirant
Tie it together. The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) is the four-star professional head of the Indian Army, appointed by the President (Supreme Commander), with a tenure of 3 years or age 62; General Dhiraj Seth became the 31st COAS on 30 June 2026. The Army is organised into seven commands (six operational + ARTRAC, each under a Lt Gen GOC-in-C), with the fighting chain running Corps → Division → Brigade → Battalion. The CDS (2019) drives jointness but does not command the services, which the Service Chiefs still lead. Add the arms (Infantry, Armoured, Artillery…), the rank ladder, and the Field-Marshal distinction (only Manekshaw and Cariappa), and you have a complete, examinable fact-set — strong GK marks and an excellent SSB lecturette on the Army's organisation.
🎯 Practice MCQs
Q1. The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) holds which star rank? (a) three-star (Lieutenant General) (b) four-star (General) (c) five-star (Field Marshal) (d) two-star (Major General) → (b) — the COAS is a four-star General; Field Marshal is a ceremonial five-star rank.
Q2. Who is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces? (a) the Prime Minister (b) the Defence Minister (c) the President of India (d) the Chief of Defence Staff → (c) — the President of India is the Supreme Commander.
Q3. How many commands does the Indian Army have? (a) five (b) six (c) seven (d) nine → (c) — seven (six operational + the Army Training Command, ARTRAC).
Q4. Which is the Indian Army's only training command? (a) Central Command, Lucknow (b) Army Training Command (ARTRAC), Shimla (c) Southern Command, Pune (d) Northern Command, Udhampur → (b) — ARTRAC at Shimla.
Q5. A Corps in the Indian Army is typically commanded by an officer of which rank? (a) Major General (b) Lieutenant General (c) Brigadier (d) Colonel → (b) — a Lieutenant General (GOC); a Division is led by a Major General.
Q6. Only two officers have held the five-star rank of Field Marshal in India. They are: (a) Cariappa and Thimayya (b) Manekshaw and Cariappa (c) Manekshaw and Thimayya (d) Rawat and Manekshaw → (b) — Field Marshals Sam Manekshaw and K.M. Cariappa.
Q7. The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), a post created in 2019, primarily: (a) commands all three services operationally (b) acts as single-point military adviser and drives jointness, without operational command of the services (c) replaces the President as Supreme Commander (d) heads only the Army → (b) — the Service Chiefs retain command; the CDS coordinates integration.
Q8. Arrange in descending order of size: Brigade, Corps, Division, Battalion. (a) Corps – Division – Brigade – Battalion (b) Division – Corps – Brigade – Battalion (c) Corps – Brigade – Division – Battalion (d) Battalion – Brigade – Division – Corps → (a) — Corps (Lt Gen) → Division (Maj Gen) → Brigade (Brigadier) → Battalion (Colonel).
📋 How this gets asked (PYQ pattern)
The armed forces' organisation is a standing GK set in NDA/CDS. The reliable items are the rank of the COAS (four-star General), the Supreme Commander (President), the number of Army commands (seven) and which is the training command (ARTRAC), and the formation–rank pairings (Corps→Lt Gen, Division→Maj Gen). A favourite trap is the Field Marshal (five-star, ceremonial — only Manekshaw & Cariappa) versus a serving General (four-star), and the CDS-vs-Service-Chief roles. The fresh 2026 hook is the change of COAS (the 31st Chief taking over) — ideal for "who is / which number / which arm" framings. We avoid quoting any specific past-paper number; the pattern reflects how the topic recurs.
Studying for NDA or CDS? The Army's command structure, ranks and the COAS/CDS distinction are guaranteed defence GK and a ready-made SSB lecturette on military organisation — and your own career roadmap. Track our daily NDA current affairs and train with serving-officer faculty in the upcoming Cavalier courses in Delhi.
✍️ Written by Col Vijyanat Thakur — Veteran, Indian Army; defence-studies faculty at The Cavalier. Reviewed by the Cavalier Faculty Desk. The Cavalier, founded by ex-Army officers, has trained NDA/CDS/SSB aspirants since 2001 (Facebook · YouTube).
Source: PIB release, 30 June 2026. Facts cross-verified.