PANAJI
In a rare achievement for a person of Goan origin in the armed forces, Major General Michael Anthony Jude Fernandez has just been cleared for Lieutenant General, the second-highest active rank in the Indian Army.
Maj Gen Fernandez will join an elite band of Goans who rose to the topmost echelons of the Indian Army when he picks up the 3-star rank a few weeks from now, according to details provided by noted writer and researcher Valmiki Faleiro.
“Goa has had one Chief of Army Staff (Gen SF Rodrigues of Curtorim), three Army Commanders (Lt Gen Eric Vas of Saligao, Lt Gen Stanley Menezes of Sangolda and Lt Gen Walter Pinto of St Cruz/Kalapur), and three Lieutenant Generals (Lt Gen Bobby Barreto of Raia, Lt Gen Francis Dias of Velsao and Lt Gen Kevin D’Souza of Mapusa).”
“Maj Gen Fernandez will be eighth Goan to achieve the rank. He would have been the ninth. Maj Gen Eustace Fernandez (Anjuna) was cleared for Lieutenant General end-March 1994 and posted as DGMI at Army HQ but the Ides of March willed otherwise,” stated Faleiro.
His father hailed from Saligao, while his mother – born in Nairobi-Kenya – was from Aldona.
Maj Gen Fernandez’ grandfather left Saligao to join the Indian Railways in Bihar, while the General’s father also worked for the railways but shifted to Bengaluru.
Born in February 1967, Major General Fernandez completed early education at the ICSE St Joseph's Boys High School and then at the ISC Bishop Cotton Boys School, both in Bangalore, by 1984.
He passed out of the 72nd Course (Bravo squadron) of the NDA-Pune in 1987. He was commissioned from the 82nd Regular Batch of the IMA-Dehradun into the Corps of Engineers (the Madras Sappers) in June 1988.
In his over 33 years in the Indian Army, Maj Gen Fernandez has served in varied operations and terrain (Plains and High Altitude) in command, staff and instructional assignments. He was part of the Indian Peacekeeping Force in Sri Lanka (1989-90) and a Sector Engineer at UNIFIL (2001-02).
“He was picked out for the General Cadre and given command of fighting formations of the Indian Army. He commanded an Amphibious Infantry Brigade and then an Infantry Division in the Desert Sector,” stated Faleiro.
With an UN background, when the Indian Army brought out the maiden edition of the UN journal, Blue Helmet Odyssey (devoted to the UN Peacekeeping Force around the world, to which India has contributed much since 1947), its Chief Editor was Maj Gen Fernandez. The journal was launched by the Army Chief, Vice Chief and Deputy Chief on Army Day, January 15 2022.
Maj Gen Fernandez married Iringa-Tanzania born Pearl Fiona at St Thomas Church, Aldona, in January 1994.
