| Honorific Prefix: | Lieutenant General |
| Cherish Mathson | |
| Honorific Suffix: | PVSM, SM, VSM |
| Serviceyears: | June 1980 – 31 August 2019 |
| Rank: | Lieutenant General |
| Servicenumber: | IC-38722 |
| Unit: | Garhwal Rifles |
| Commands: | South Western Army XXI Corps Special Frontier Force 54th Infantry Division |
| Awards: | Param Vishisht Seva Medal Sena Medal Vishisht Seva Medal |
Lieutenant General Cherish Mathson, PVSM, SM, VSM is a retired officer of the Indian Army who served as General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), South Western Command. He assumed office on 1 August 2017 taking over from Lt General Abhay Krishna, and was succeeded by Lt General Alok Singh Kler on 1 September 2019.[1] [2] [3] [4]
Mathson is an alumnus of Sainik School, Trivandrum and the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington. He has also attended Senior Command Course at Army War College, Mhow, the Long Defence Management Course at the College of Defence Management, Secunderabad and the National Defence College, New Delhi.[5]
Mathson was commissioned into Garhwal Rifles in June 1980. He has vast experience in rural and urban insurgencies and has served two tenures in Siachen Glacier, in Operation Blue Star, in Mizoram against the Mizo National Front (MNF) and as a UN observer in Somalia.
He has commanded a battalion on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir during Operation Parakram, the Trivandrum Brigade in an amphibious Role, the 54th Infantry Division in the Southern Command, Inspector General of the Special Frontier Force and the XXI Corps in Bhopal.
He has also held staff positions including Deputy Assistant Quarter Master General Operations (DAQMG) of an Independent Infantry Brigade, Colonel Administration (Col Adm) of a Mountain Division, Brigadier Administration (Brig Adm) of the XII Corps, Deputy Technical Manager (Land Systems) in Army HQ, Senior Defence Specialist (Military) in the National Security Council Secretariat and in the Defence Acquisition Wing (Ministry of Defence).[6] [7] [8] [9] He was also the Colonel of the Regiment of Garhwal Rifles.[10]
During his career, he has been awarded the Sena Medal, the Vishist Seva Medal in 2010 [11] and the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2018.[12]
| Param Vishisht Seva Medal | Sena Medal | Vishisht Seva Medal | Samanya Seva Medal | |
| Special Service Medal | Siachen Glacier Medal | Operation Vijay Medal | Operation Parakram Medal | |
| Sainya Seva Medal | High Altitude Service Medal | Videsh Seva Medal | 50th Anniversary of Independence Medal | |
| 30 Years Long Service Medal | 20 Years Long Service Medal | 9 Years Long Service Medal | UN Mission in Angola Medal |
| Insignia | Rank | Component | Date of rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 June 1980[13] | |||
| Indian Army | 7 June 1982[14] | ||
| Indian Army | 7 June 1985[15] | ||
| Indian Army | 7 June 1991 | ||
| Indian Army | 31 December 2002[16] | ||
| Indian Army | 1 February 2005[17] | ||
| Indian Army | 2 May 2008 (seniority from 12 January 2008)[18] | ||
| Indian Army | 1 January 2013 (seniority from 6 April 2011)[19] | ||
| Indian Army | 10 November 2015 (substantive)[20] | ||