| Honorific Prefix: | Lieutenant General |
| Tarun Kumar Aich | |
| Office: | Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (Strategy) |
| 1Blankname: | Chief of the Army Staff |
| 1Namedata: | Manoj Pande Upendra Dwivedi |
| Term Start: | 14 March 2023 |
| Predecessor: | M. V. Suchindra Kumar |
| Office1: | General Officer Commanding XXXIII Corps |
| Term Start1: | 22 October 2021 |
| Term End1: | 31 October 2022 |
| Predecessor1: | Ajai Kumar Singh |
| Successor1: | VPS Kaushik |
| Birth Date: | 1964 10, df=y |
| Serviceyears: | 14 June 1986 – 31 October 2024 |
| Rank: | Lieutenant General |
| Military Blank1: | Service number |
| Military Data1: | IC-43710L[1] |
| Unit: | 16 Madras Regiment |
| Commands: | XXXIII Corps 12th Infantry Division (RAPID) |
| Military Blank2: | Awards |
| Military Data2: | |
Lieutenant General Tarun Kumar Aich, PVSM, AVSM (born 19 October 1964) is a serving General Officer of the Indian Army. He is the 4th and the current Deputy Chief of the Army Staff.[2] He is the first officer from the Madras Regiment to become the Deputy Chief of Army Staff DCOAS (Strategy), assuming office from Lt Gen M. V. Suchindra Kumar on 14 Mar 2023.[3] Previously, he was the Director General of Military Intelligence. Prior to that, he was GOC Trishakti Corps (XXXIII Corps).[4] [5] He earlier served as the Director General of National Cadet Corps.[6] [7] [8] [9]
He has completed his schooling from The Frank Anthony Public School, Delhi and High school from Delhi Public School, Delhi. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla where he graduated with the Degree of Bachelor of Arts and the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. He is also an alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and Army War College, Mhow. He had undergone the Command and General Staff Course (CGSC) at Hamburg, Germany. He is a Postgraduate and holds an MPhil in Defence and Strategic Studies from the Madras University.[10]
He was commissioned into 16th battalion of the Madras Regiment (Travancore) in June 1986 from the Indian Military Academy.[11] He has commanded his battalion in the Siachen Glacier and in the intense counter terrorism environment of the Valley Sector in Kashmir. He has held the appointment of the Brigade Major of a Brigade in Counter Insurgency Operations (CI Ops) and General Staff Officer-1 in the Military Intelligence Directorate. He has assumed command as the Colonel (General Staff) of a forward assault formation in the plains sector, served as Colonel General Staff (Planning) at Command Headquarters, and held the esteemed post of Brigadier General Staff at the prestigious Indian Military Academy, Commandant of the High Altitude Warfare School at Gulmarg. He also commanded the 12 Reorganized Army Plains Infantry Division (RAPID) in the desert sector.
On being promoted to the rank of Lieutenant general, he took over as the 33rd Director General of National Cadet Corps on 1 January 2021.[12] [13]
On October 22, 2021, he took over as the GOC XXXIII Corps succeeding Lieutenant General Ajai Kumar Singh.[14] [15] [16] [17] On Dec 11, 2021, he set up a 400 litres of oxygen per minute oxygen generation plant, at the base hospital in Bengdubi near Bagdogra in Siliguri[18] On May 16, 2022, Lt Gen Tarun Kumar Aich, the GOC of Trishakti Corps, and Avinash Khare, the VC of Sikkim University signed the MoU for the Eastern Command Tibetology cadre course (ECTCC).[19] On Sept 20, 2022, he inaugurated The Avalanche Monitoring Radar (TAMR) operational in North Sikkim. It is first of its kind radar in India installed jointly by the Indian Army and Defence Geoinformatics and Research Establishment (DGRE) located at an altitude of 15,000 feet.[20] After relinquishing the command of Trishakti Corps, he moved to the Army headquarters and assumed the appointment of Director General Military Intelligence.
On 14 March 2023, he assumed the appointment as the 4th and the current Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (Strategy) succeeding Lt Gen M. V. Suchindra Kumar.[21]
He has been awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2024[22] and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2021.[23] The general officer has been awarded the Chief of Army Staff's Commendation thrice.
| Param Vishisht Seva Medal | Ati Vishisht Seva Medal | |||
| Special Service Medal | Siachen Glacier Medal | Operation Vijay Medal | ||
| Sainya Seva Medal | High Altitude Medal | Videsh Seva Medal | 75th Independence Anniversary Medal | |
| 50th Independence Anniversary Medal | 30 Years Long Service Medal | 20 Years Long Service Medal | 9 Years Long Service Medal | |
| Insignia | Rank | Component | Date of rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Second Lieutenant | Indian Army | 14 June 1986 | ||
| Lieutenant | Indian Army | 14 June 1988[24] | ||
| Captain | Indian Army | 14 June 1991[25] | ||
| Major | Indian Army | 14 June 1997[26] | ||
| Lieutenant Colonel | Indian Army | 16 December 2004[27] | ||
| Colonel | Indian Army | 1 May 2007[28] | ||
| Brigadier | Indian Army | 14 December 2012 (acting)1 April 2013 (substantive, with seniority from 10 June 2011)[29] | ||
| Major General | Indian Army | 1 October 2018 (seniority from 1 February 2017)[30] | ||
| Lieutenant General | Indian Army | 1 January 2021[31] |