Baggavalli Somashekar Raju is a three-star general in the Indian Army, who has recently been appointed as the 44th Vice Chief of the Army Staff. He is also known for bringing reforms to the Indian Armys 15 Corps. He is also accredited with increasing the Indian Armys interaction with the local Kashmiri Awaam.BS Rajus affiliation with the Indian Army began at a very young age. He, joined the prestigious Sainik School, Bijapur; after passing a pan India level examination. He was a very focused student and laid a lot of emphasis on his studies.BS Raju completed his schooling in 1979 and then appeared for the entrance exam for the National Defence Academy. He joined the NDA in December 1980.Upon completing 3 years of rigorous training at NDA, BS Raju, in 1983, joined the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun, where he was trained for one more year, and in December 1984, BS Raju was commissioned in the Jat Regiment of the Indian Army.BS Raju was commissioned in the 11th Battalion of the Jat Regiment. Where he held several important, battalion based appointments, such as Company Commander, Adjutant and the Second in Command.BS Raju is also a qualified helicopter pilot. He served with the Indian Armys Aviation Corps and flew several aerial reconnaissance missions, during the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations in Somalia.As a young Major, BS Raju held an important appointment as a Brigade Major.From 2001 to 2002, BS Raju also participated in Operation Parakram. He, later on, went on to command the 15th Battalion of the Jat Regiment.In 2009, after completing his command of 15 Jat, BS Raju served as the Directing Staff of the Defence Services Staff College. He was also posted as an instructor at War College, Mhow at Madhya Pradesh.As a Colonel, BS Raju was posted as a Military Secretary (Legal) at Army Headquarters in Delhi.