New Delhi, Jan 27 (IANS): Lt Gen Satinder Kumar Saini will take charge as vice chief of Indian Army on Tuesday.

Lt Gen Saini, who was the Southern Command chief so far, will inspect a Guard of Honour before taking charge.

The army vice chief's post fell vacant after incumbent, Lt Gen M.M. Naravane, was elevated as army chief.

An alumnus of Sainik School, Kapurthala and the National Defence Academy (NDA), Lt Gen Saini was commissioned into the Jat Regiment in June 1981.

He commanded his battalion (7 Jat), a mountain brigade, a counter insurgency force in Jammu and Kashmir, a corps in the western theatre and then the Southern Army Command.

As Southern Command chief, he steered transformation of its operational philosophy to overwhelm the emerging threats and validation of many new concepts during training exercises.

He has also been weapons instructor in the National Security Guards (NSG) Training Centre, a senior directing staff at the National Defence College, New Delhi and the Commandant of the Indian Military Academy.

Lt Gen Saini had also served as the Deputy Chief Military Personnel Officer in UN Mission in Iraq-Kuwait, attended an exercise on peacekeeping conducted by the Global Peace Operations initiative in Mongolia and a counter-terrorism exercise in Australia.

During his long service, Lt Gen Saini has been conferred with a number of awards, both for gallantry and distinguished service, including the Chief of Army Staff's Commendation, Army Commander's Commendation, the Yudh Seva Medal (YSM), the Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM), and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM).