Dewan Rabindranath Soni

Soni is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. In addition, he attended the Junior Command, Senior Command and Higher Command Courses at Army War College, Mhow; the Staff Course at Defence Services Staff College, Wellington; and the Combat Group Commanders Course at Armoured Corps Centre and School, Ahmednagar. He also has a master's degree in Global Security from Cranfield University and attended the Defence College of Management and Technology, Shrivenham in the United Kingdom.[1][3][4][5]

He is a sportsman and likes golf and tennis. He is married to Colonel Suman Soni (retd.), who served in the Army as a gynecologist for twenty-two years.[4][5]

Soni was commissioned into the Central India Horse, a tank regiment of the Indian Army, in June 1979. Later, he was transferred to the 47 Armoured Regiment on its raising in 1983. He has commanded an armoured brigade; an armoured division; 47 armoured Regiment (July 1999 - December 2001), X Corps (Bhatinda) (18 June 2015 – 16 September 2016) and GOC-in-C, Army Training Command (17 September 2016 – 30 November 2017). He has held various staff appointments including Brigade Major of an armoured brigade; Colonel Administration of a Counter Insurgency Force in Jammu and Kashmir, and Colonel General Staff of a Mountain Division in the Eastern Sector. He was also deputed as a military observer in Iraq and Kuwait after the Gulf War.[1][3][4][6]

During 39 years of his career, he has been awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (2018), Vishisht Seva Medal (2015), the Chief of the Army Staff’s Commendation Card and the Commendation Card of the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Western Command.[1][7][8]

Lt. Gen. Soni retired on September 30, 2018, and was succeeded as the GOC-in-C of the Southern Command by Lt. Gen. S.K. Saini.[9]