Maj General Christopher Fernandes AVSM, VSM (Retd)
By John Aguiar
Maj General Christopher Fernandes (Retd) is a senior decorated officer, from the Indian Army. He is a recipient of Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Sena Medal (Gallantry), VSM. A product of National Defence Academy, Pune he was commissioned into Bihar Regiment of the Indian Army on 13 June 1981. The General Officer Commanded an Infantry Battalion on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, an Infantry Brigade in active counter insurgency environment in Assam. He has actively participated in combat operations in Manipur, Tripura, Assam, Siachen Glacier and Kashmir. He was awarded Sena Medal for Gallantry while operating in the face of enemy at Siachen Glacier.
The General Officer has also been an Instructor at the National Defence Academy, Pune and has done Staff tenures at Brigade Division, Army Headquarters and Headquarters Integrated Defence Services. A graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, the College of Defence Management, Secunderabad, and the Indian Institute of Public Administration, Delhi.
His civil qualifications include: MSc in Strategic Studies from the University of Chennai
A Master's Degree in Management from Osmania University, Hyderabad and an M.Phil in Public Administration from Punjab University.
Sir, could you tell us about your schooling and factors that motivated you to join the Indian Army?
-General could you tell us about your schooling and factors that motivated you to join the Army?
General: Okay, factors that motivate me, I'll start with my schooling. My father and my mother. They are from Mapusa. In fact, my father is from Salvador da Mundo, and we have our house in Defence Colony, which is part of Salvador da Mundo Village. He was a fighter pilot in the Indian Air force.
I went to 8 or 9 different schools. I attended Hutchings High School and St. Vincent's School in Pune until I was in 11th grade. After that, I joined the National Defence Academy.
It's great that a Goan is a senior officer in the Indian Army, a two-star officer. It's great, and we're proud of him. How was your SSB?
I initially tried to join the Air Force like my Father. Just four of us got through. But unfortunately, when I went for my medical, there was something wrong with my eyes. Which they said, "Sorry, you can't join the Air Force." So I thought long and hard. And then said, "Oh, I still want to join the services." And I found the next best would be the Army. I will not say next best now. I will say the best is the Indian Army. And I joined the Indian Army after doing my SSB from Varanasi.
Okay. From there you went to the National Defence Academy.
Yes, so once you... See after 11th, that is the earliest. At that time it was 11th. Now it's 12th. You apply for NDA. And you get into NDA after passing the written and then the SSB. You have a merit list. And if you are selected, you get into NDA. From there I joined NDA. NDA is for three years where you get a degree. Yes, it's a BA /BSc degree you get over there. And after three years you join IMA for one year at Dehradun and then you get commissioned. Now why one year and sometimes one and a half year? Because of NDA you knock off six months. And we then join IMA for one year and then you're commissioned into the Indian Army.
How was your experience at basic training?
General : NDA. I joined NDA coming out straight from St. Vincent's School. It was difficult because you have got to study for your degree but you also have physical activities which are tough. It was a tough but a wonderful experience. NDA really gets you on the rails to become a service person. And then IMA. IMA was specific to training for the Indian Army. Again, extremely tough and gets you ready for serving in any environment in the Indian Army. So, it was a memorable experience. But I will not say it was an easy experience. It is a tough experience. Tough but good. The best friends were made there. All our course mates keep in touch. We are like one big family.
General, you were in the infantry branch of the Indian Army. What is the role of infantry in the Indian Army?
General: Infantry is the queen of the battle. Many people call it different things. We are the boots on ground. You may have people with guns; they give you fire support. You have the armoured corps where you move in tanks. But ultimately the person on the ground is the infantry. You have eyes on the enemy. It is not something from far away. Infantry is the backbone of the Indian Army.
-You have been part of Bihar Regiment. And Bihar Regiment has played a very important role during the Kargil War. Could you tell us something more?
General: Bihar Regiment has excelled not only in Kargil but every operational area whether it was in 1971 Bangladesh later in Sri Lanka and ongoing operations in Siachen Glacier. In Kargil they did a great job. Our troops are one of the finest in the world. We have troops from North Bihar and South Bihar who are Adivasis. They make a wonderful team. Bihar Regiment troops are one of the finest and that's why wherever or whichever operations we have been in the Bihar Regiment has done extremely well. Thanks to our men.
-General, which operation area did you serve during your tenure in the army?
I have served in almost every operational area where the army has participated in. I will start when I got commissioned, I went to the northeast in Manipur. There was counterinsurgency, it is still prevalent now. That time there were CI operations on. Manipur is an excellent State and the Manipur people are Strong and intelligent. unfortunately, they had that problem. Then we were in Tripura for some time, I served a bit in Tripura. After that J&K. Before I went to J&K, I served in the Siachen Glacier. I think, the toughest time of my life. We were operating at heights of 21 to 23,000 feet, oxygen negligible and temperatures going down to minus 50 degrees centigrade. We lived in ice caves and were also getting shot at by the enemy. I thank my men. They are the ones who have the toughest time and we all served there as a team. So that was Siachen Glacier, a difficult place to serve. In the 90s it was even more difficult than today. We did not have all the fancy facilities available now. I commanded my battalion again on the line of control. The Line of control was very active. we had a lot of casualties. The Pakistanis had a lot of casualties too. I did not take part in Kargil operations because I was on on staff. I was also deployed for the Gujarat riots. In fact, I was the first to take my battalion into Godhra.
General you were awarded Sena Medal for Gallantry. Could you tell us about it?
This was in the Siachen Glacier. I was a major, commanding a post called Sonam. The enemy had come up on to our Bana post. The Bana post is part of the Sonam complex. They had come up at a height of about 22,000 and they attacked our post on top. In fact, they managed to kill one of my havildars . We had to climb up. I remember it was at about 12 o'clock at night. To approach Bana we have to climb a vertical ice covered cliff face at minus 55 degrees centigrade. We managed to evict the enemy with no survivors on their side.
You have also commanded an infantry battalion on the line of control in J&K and later mountain brigade in counterinsurgency operation in Assam and at LAC on China border in Arunachal Pradesh.
Anyone who joins the army, his basic aim is to command your battalion, whatever arm of the army. I commanded my battalion on the line of control and subsequently came down only to be inducted into Gujrat for quelling the Gujrat Godhra riots.
I commanded my Brigade in Assam and my Division in the Deserts.
You were Chief of Staff of Andaman and Nicobar Tri-Services Command and Chief of Staff Mumbai Area when you retired after 37 years in the Army in September 2018. How do you see these important assignments?
I was the Chief of staff in the Andaman Nicobar command. This was a memorable tenure as it is a joint command consisting of Army, Navy, and the Airforce. I later was Chief of Staff in Mumbai Area from where I retired.
General, how do our Goan boys and girls could prepare themselves to join the Indian Army?
Okay, good question. I always found unlike other States the youth from Goa do not apply to join the Armed Forces maybe out of ignorance or being persuaded against it by their families. Vacancies given to Goa for joining the Army are never filled whereas in other states they keep asking for more vacancies.
I would recommend to our boys and girls from Goa, especially the girls, you have got a fantastic career in the Armed Forces. Join the Army or the Air Force or the Navy. A I am sure you will do well. There are several options you can exercise from permanent service to short service.
Thank you so much General. It was nice having you with us today. And you shared a lot of information to our young boys and girls from Goa.
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