Lt Gen JS Cheema, PVSM, AVSM, VSM Ex Deputy Chief of the Indian Army was commissioned into the 17 Sikh on 09 Jun 1979. The General Officer had a chequered career spanning 40 years in the Indian Army. He has tenanted various Regimental, Staff and Instructional appointments notable amongst them being Brigade Major, Colonel General Staff and Brigadier General Staff of operationally committed Division and Corps respectively, Deputy Director General Infantry at Army HQ, and Chief of Staff of Corps & Command. He has also served as Directing Staff at the prestigious Army War College and been an Instructor in SIKH Regimental Centre and the ASSAM RIFLES Training Centre.

The General Officer commanded his Brigade along the Line of Control (LC) in J&K, and a Division in Bareilly. a Corps at Jalandhar responsible for the defence of Punjab. On successful completion of tenure as Chief of Staff, Eastern Command, the General Officer was appointed as the Director General, Infantry, responsible to lay down policy for manpower planning, training and administration of recruits in the Regimental Centres.

The General Officer was subsequently appointed as the Deputy Chief of the Indian Army Staff (Information Systems and Training) where he was responsible for laying down policy for training in the Indian Army and steering modernization with respect to Information Systems, Automation, Training Infrastructure, Communications, Equipping of Indian Army’s contingents deployed in United Nations (UN), Rashtriya Rifles and the Defence Security Corps. The General Officer superannuated 30 Nov 2017. He is presently pursuing PhD in Defence and National Security Studies from Punjab University on “Deterrence & Decision Making for War in the Indian Context: An Analytical Study.”