PANAJI: In a significant honour for a Goan in the armed forces, Lt General Sumer Ivan D’Cunha was promoted as Lieutenant General on Tuesday.
With his promotion to Lieutenant General, D'Cunha has now been appointed as the Director General Army Air Defence at the Army HQ in New Delhi. Incidentally, D’Cunha has been elevated from Brigadier to Major-General to Lt General in just 13 months.
Lt Gen Ivan D'Cunha's qualifications
Lt Gen D’Cunha is an alumnus of the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun and was commissioned into the Corps of Army Air Defence in December 1988. He hails from Curtorim, and is the son of the late Major General Ivan D’Cunha and Gemma Pinto, a writer, a teacher, and a personality development trainer.
He is an engineer, a graduate of the Technical Staff Officers Course from the Institute of Armament Technology. He attended Higher Command Course at the Army War College, Mhow and the National Defence College, New Delhi.
During his illustrious service, Lt Gen D’Cunha has held varied instructional and staff appointments. His command appointments include command of a Missile Regiment, an Air Defence Brigade in the Western Sector and General Officer Commanding, Madhya Pradesh Sub Area. His prominent staff assignments include Assistant Quarter Master General in Jammu and Kashmir, and Deputy General Officer Commanding in Assam.
Lt Gen D'Cunha's past accolades
Lt Gen D’Cunha has twice received prestigious Commendation Cards in his career, and has been posted abroad, as India’s Military & Air Attache with the Indian Embassy in Iran. He has continued with his academic pursuits, having done his MSc in Radars and Metallurgy, M.Phil in Defence and Strategic Studies, and his PhD in Management.
Sumer is married to Farah, herself the daughter of Major General Eustace Fernandez, who died a martyr in Kashmir, days before he could assume his promotion as Lieutenant General, and Melanie Noronha, a teacher and an entrepreneur. They have two children, son Arjun -- an alumnus of IIT, and daughter Anjali, who is a lawyer and a pianist.
