JAIPUR (PTI): Lt Gen Cherish Mathson has taken over the charge of the Army's South Western Command at a ceremony in Jaipur.

He paid tributes to the martyrs at the Prerna Sthal and later reviewed a Guard of Honour after assuming charge on Aug. 1.

Mathson took over as the Army commander after Lt Gen Abhay Krishna relinquished the command and moved to take over the reins of the Eastern Command in Kolkata where Lt General Praveen Bakshi GOC-in-C retired on July 31.

Lt Gen Mathson is an alumnus of Sainik School, Trivandrum (Kerala). He was commissioned into the Garwal Rifles in June 1980.

He is a graduate from the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and has attended various important career courses which include Senior Command Course at the Army War College, Mhow and Long Defence Management Course at Secunderabad, defence spokesperson Lt Col Manish Ojha said.

Mathson has also attended the prestigious National Defence College Course at New Delhi and in the Republic of South Africa and has considerable experience in varied operational assignments across India and in Somalia (UN operations).

He has fought in rural and urban insurgency/terrorism situations in Mizoram against Mizo National Front (MNF) and in the Operation Bluestar in Amritsar.

Lt Gen Mathson has commanded his Battalion on the Line of Control with Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir, during Operation Parakram.

He has served two tenures on Siachen Glacier, the world's highest battlefield, and has commanded the Trivandrum Brigade which he transformed to an Amphibious Role (akin to US Marines).