Vadodara: Lt Gen Asit Mistry, who is only the third Gujarati to rise to the rank of Lt General, has been awarded Param Vishisht Seva Medal.

Lt General Asit Mistry, who hails from Vadodara is one of the very few to have been honoured with the highest peace time distinguished service award of PVSM. Lt Gen Mistry will be presented the Medal at an investiture ceremony by President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhawan on Monday.

General Rajendrasinhji Jadeja, former Commander in Chief of the Indian Army and Lt Gen Mahipatsinh are the only two other Gujarati officers to rise to the rank of Lt Gen before Lt Gen Mistry.

Lt Gen Mistry retired from service last month. His last role while in service was as the Commandant of National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, better known as the Cradle of Military Leadership, where he oversaw the training of nearly 2,000 young cadets. He has also been the Colonel of the Regiment of Maratha Light Infantry.

Post-retirement from service, Lt Gen Mistry has now joined the Rashtriya Raksha University, Gandhinagar, as Director of School of Internal Security, Defence & Strategic Studies, and will be settling down in Ahmedabad.

During a military career spanning nearly four decades, Lt Gen Mistry has already been awarded three other distinguished service awards, including the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM), Sena Medal (SM) and Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) besides Commendations of Chief of the Army Staff and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief. He was conferred the coveted PVSM on the eve of 72nd Republic Day.

Lt Gen Mistry was born in Vadodara on October 25, 1961. He did his initial schooling at the Experimental School.

From a very young age, he had set his sights on joining the army and joined the Sainik School at Balachadi in 1972 as a first step towards realising his dream. He was selected for a NDA, Khadakwasla in 1978, and was commissioned in 12 Maratha Light Infantry in 1982. He was the first officer to be commissioned in 12 MARATHA LI, which he later commanded.

Lt Gen Mistry is a graduate of Defence Services Staff College and Higher Command Course. He has a Master’s Degree in Defence Studies from Madras University and M Phil from Devi Ahilyabai Vishwavidyalaya, Indore.

Gen Mistry has had varying and challenging assignments during his long military career-ranging from the frozen heights of Drass and Siachen Glacier to active counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist operations in Assam as well as Jammu & Kashmir. As a young Captain, Lt Gen Mistry served as a team commander in National Security Guards, better known as Black Cats. He has extensive experience of UN Peace Keeping Missions and was a UN Military Observer in Liberia in 1996-97 and Deputy Force Commander of UN Mission in South Sudan in 2012-14.

Lt Gen Mistry is married to Mrs Mira Mistry and their only son, Maj Shrey Mistry has also joined the Indian Army as well as the same unit, carrying forward the legacy.

Constituted in 1960, PVSM is a military decoration awarded in recognition of peace-time service of the most exceptional order. DeshGujarat