Two army officers from the Tricity will be leading the Army’s armoured column and Pinaka column of artillery respectively at the Republic Day Parade, 2021.
Capt Karanveer Singh Bhangoo from 54 Armd Regt belongs to Panchkula, and will be seen on Rajpath on leading T-90 tank contingent during Republic Day Parade.
Similarly, Capt Vibhor Gulati of Mohali, serving in 841 Rocket Regt (Pinaka) will be seen leading the state-of-the-art Pinaka weapon system which has been developed in India.
Capt Bhangoo was motivated to join the Army by his Grand Father, Maj Gurmel Singh (retd) from 3rd Battalion, The Grenadiers Regiment.
The 54 Armoured Regiment was raised in July 2010 and is the youngest armoured regiment to have been conferred with a ‘Unit Citation’ within eight years of its raising. The regiment has seen deployment in South Kashmir during abrogation of Article 370 and Section 35A. His unit is equipped with the main Battle Tank T-90, also called ‘Bhishma’.
Capt Gulati is an engineering graduate from Mohali and the son of a retired Junior Warrant Officer of Indian Air Force who joined Army after a brief carrier as Data Scientist in Bengaluru. He will be representing the Pinaka Contingent of the Artillery during the parade.
The 841 Rocket Regiment (then 84 Counter Bombardment Regt) was raised in 1963 in Ambala. The Unit participated and played a crucial role in ’65 war and ’71 war as 84 Light Regiment (towed) with many of its soldiers and officers making the ultimate sacrifice during the battles they fought.
The unit was converted into a Rocket Regiment in April 2020. The regiment is primarily composed of South Indian troops and they are more commonly known as the ‘Gallant Thambis’.