Shailesh Tinaikar

Lieutenant General Shailesh Tinaikar, SM, VSM (born 1962 ) is an Indian Army officer, who is currently serving as the Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), the second biggest peacekeeping operation. He was appointed on May 24, 2019, by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, succeeded by Lieutenant General Frank Mushyo Kamanzi of Rwanda. Prior to that, he served as the Commandant of the Indian Army Infantry School. He is the recipient of the Sena Medal and the Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service.

Early life and education
He is one of the four sons of the former municipal commissioner of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Sri Sadashiv Tinaikar. Tinaikar Sr., who belonged to the 1956 batch of Indian Administrative Service, was known as a firebrand officer during his tenure. He was the municipal commissioner of Mumbai in the mid-eighties. During his tenure, he took several major decisions pertaining to city infrastructure, including the concretization of the city roads, which was implemented after much opposition.

Shailesh Tinaikar was graduated from the Indian Military Academy in 1983. He has done M.Phil in Defence and Strategic Studies from The University of Madras.

Career
He is serving as the Commandant of the Infantry School since his appointment in July 2018. Tinaikar has held the position of Additional Director General of Military Operations at the Army Headquarters from 2017 to 2018. He commanded a division, a recruit training centre and a brigade from 2012 to 2017.

Lt. General Shailesh Tinaikar has served in the United Nations Angola Verification Mission III from 1996 to 1997 and from 2008 to 2009, he served in the United Nations Mission in Sudan.

On May 24, 2019, Tinaikar was appointed as the Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.

Honours and decorations

 * Sena Medal
 * Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service
 * Military awards and decorations sourced from a news release