KNOW OUR GENERAL : GAURAV SHUMSHER RANA

General of Nepal Army  Gaurav Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana 

Nepal Army

Kathmandu, General Gaurav Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana, son of late Major General Aditya SJB Rana and Rani Sunita Rana, was born on 12 December, 1955. He followed the footsteps of his father, into the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, United Kingdom, and was commissioned into the Purano Gorakh Battalion in 1974.
General Rana is an alumnus of the US Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, USA and the National Defence University, Pakistan. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in History from Tribhuvan University and Masters Degree in Defence and Strategic Studies from Quaid-E-Azam University of Pakistan. He had successfully commanded Shree Taradal Gulma (Independent Infantry Company) and Shree Purano Gorakh Battalion. A second-generation officer of the Purano Gorakh Bn, one of the oldest unit of the Nepalese Army and a battalion of ethnic Magars, he led this unit in active operational duty in UNIFIL, Lebanon in 1994. 
He has served as Commandant of the Nepalese Military Academy, Kharipati. His notable active operational commands include Brigade Commander in 5th and 9th Infantry Brigades in counter insurgency environment in far western and central Nepal respectively. He commanded the Western Division, which is headquartered in Pokhara.

His important Staff appointments at the Army HQs include Chief of General Staff, Chief of Staff, Director of Recruitment, Director of Logistics, Director of Army Research and Development, Inspector General of the Army and Director General of Military Operations. In his capacity as the Director General of Military Operations, during the Koshi floods of 2008, he represented the Nepalese Army in the Central Natural Disaster Relief Committee and was the general officer in charge of rescue and relief operations.

He was promoted to the rank of General and took up his current appointment as Chief of the Army Staff on 9 September, 2012.

He has been decorated with the prestigious Suprabal Jana Sewa Shree in recognition of his exemplary long-term services to the Nepalese Army. His other decorations, medals and insignias include the Tri Shakti Patta, Disaster Rescue Award, UN Medal with Bar, Remote Area Service Medal (Mountain Warfare) and Parachutist wings.

An ardent student of military history, a keen golfer, an avid bird watcher and an enthusiastic mountain biker, he has a reputation of having firm commitment towards his profession and the institution. He is the Colonel Commandant of Purano Gorakh Battalion, the battalion his father and he himself commanded.

General Rana is married to Mrs Rohini Rana and the couple is blessed with two daughters, two grandsons and one granddaughter.

Biography by: Nepal Army