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Lt Gen DS Hooda was commissioned into the 4th Battalion of the 4th Gorkha Rifles on 15 Dec 1976 and served in Nagaland during the Naga insurgency.

He attended the Command and Staff College in Canada and served as the first Chief Logistics Officer for the United Nations Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea.

He led military rescue and relief efforts during the 2005 Jammu and Kashmir earthquake and handled counterinsurgency operations in Manipur as a major general.

As Army Commander of Northern Command from 2012 to 2016, he handled strategic challenges along the borders with Pakistan and China and led counterterrorism operations in Jammu and Kashmir.

He planned and conducted the 2016 surgical strikes against Pakistan and retired after 40 years of service.