The Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) is a premier defence service training institution of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. It trains officers of all three services of the Indian Armed Forces – (Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force), civilian officers and officers from friendly foreign countries for command and staff appointments.
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History
The Defence Services Staff College, one of India's oldest military institutions was re-established at Wellington, Coonoor from Quetta in the present day Pakistan following the Partition of British India in August 1947. During the partition, Pakistan inherited the Staff College, Quetta, originally founded in 1905 at Deolali before relocating to Quetta in 1907.
The Indian elements of the Staff College, Quetta led by the senior-most Indian Army instructor Colonel S. D. Verma moved to India. Verma was promoted brigadier and appointed as the first commandant and chose Wellington Cantonment in The Nilgiris District of Tamil Nadu as the location of the Staff College in India.
The first staff course started in April 1948, months after the move. The first course had 46 officers from the Indian Army and 2 each from the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force. Two officers from this course – Major Tapishwar Narain Raina and Squadron Leader Hrushikesh Moolgavkar went on to head their services as the Chiefs. The air wing was established in 1949 and the Naval Wing in 1950 and the college was rechristened Defence Services Staff College. The college threw open its gates to officers from friendly foreign countries from the fifth course and to civil servants from the sixth course.
DSSC has been affiliated to Madras University for the award of M.Sc. degree in 'Defence and Strategic Studies' and recognized as a research centre for MPhil and PhD degrees since 1990.
Crest and motto
The Staff College when at Quetta adopted the crest of Staff College, Camberley, which was the 'Wise Owl' with the Latin motto Tam Marte Quam Minerva. In 1964, Owl perched on crossed swords and the motto in Sanskrit Yuddham Pragya was adopted.
Commandant
The commandant of the Defence Services Staff College is the head of the institution. The commandant is an army officer of the rank of lieutenant general.
Organisation
The commandant of the college is assisted by the chief instructors (CI) of the army, naval and air wings, all two-star appointments. The CIs are drawn from the respective services. The Incharge of the administrative wing (also a two-star appointment), and the brigadier general staff (BGS) also report into the commandant.
Notable alumni
Chiefs of Army Staff
Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw
General P. P. Kumaramangalam
General Tapishwar Narain Raina
General Om Prakash Malhotra
General Arun Shridhar Vaidya
General K. V. Krishna Rao
General Krishnaswamy Sundarji
General Vishwa Nath Sharma
General Sunith Francis Rodrigues
General Bipin Chandra Joshi
General Shankar Roychowdhury
General Ved Prakash Malik
General Sundararajan Padmanabhan
General Nirmal Chander Vij
General J. J. Singh
General Deepak Kapoor
General V. K. Singh
General Bikram Singh
General Bipin Rawat
General Manoj Mukund Naravane
General Manoj Pande
Chiefs of Naval Staff
Admiral Ronald Lynsdale Pereira
Admiral Oscar Stanley Dawson
Admiral Jayant Ganpat Nadkarni
Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat
Admiral Sushil Kumar
Admiral Madhvendra Singh
Admiral Arun Prakash
Admiral Sureesh Mehta
Admiral Robin K. Dhowan
Admiral Sunil Lanba
Admiral Karambir Singh
Chiefs of Air Staff
Air Chief Marshal Hrushikesh Moolgavkar
Air Chief Marshal Idris Hasan Latif
Air Chief Marshal Lakshman Madhav Katre
Air Chief Marshal Surinder Mehra
Air Chief Marshal S. K. Kaul
Air Chief Marshal Satish Sareen
Air Chief Marshal Anil Yashwant Tipnis
Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy
Air Chief Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi
Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik
Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha
Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa
Foreign alumni
Hans-Christoph Ammon, Head of German special forces
Muhammadu Buhari, President and former military Head of State, Nigeria
Olusegun Obasanjo, former Nigerian President
Sitiveni Rabuka OBE, MSD, OStJ, 3rd Prime Minister of Fiji
Lieutenant Colonel Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, RWP, RSP, GR – former President of Sri Lanka
Major General Matheus Alueendo 7th Commander of the Namibian Army
Admiral Basil Gunasekara, former commander of the Sri Lanka Navy