Strategic Forces Command

The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) {Hindi: सामरिक बल कमान}, sometimes called Strategic Nuclear Command {Hindi: सामरिक परमाणु कमान}, forms part of India's Nuclear Command Authority (NCA). It is responsible for the management and administration of the country's tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile. It was created on January 4, 2003 by Vajpayee Government. Air Marshal Teja Mohan Asthana became its first commander-in-chief.

Responsibility

It is the responsibility of the Strategic Forces Command to operationalize the directives of the NCA under the leadership of a Commander-in-Chief who is a three-star rank officer. It will have the sole responsibility of initiating the process of delivering nuclear weapons and warheads, after acquiring explicit approval from the NCA. The exact selection of the target area shall be decided by the SFC through a calibrated, cumulative process involving various levels of decision-making, and with formal approval by the NCA.

The SFC manages and administers all strategic forces by exercising complete command and control over nuclear assets, and producing all contingency plans as needed to fulfill the required tasks. Since its inception, the SFC’s command, control and communication systems have been firmly established, and the command has attained a high state of operational readiness.

Forces Command

Forces Command is a military formation in use in at least two different armies:

Commander Forces Command (Australia)

Commander Forces Command (COMD FORCOMD) is a senior Australian Army appointment created in July 2009. The incumbent holds the rank of Major General (Australia) (two-star rank).

The position was created by the merging of the previous Land Commander Australia (LCAUST) and Commander Training Command (COMD TC-A) positions.

Appointees

The following list chronologically records those who have held the post of Commander Forces Command or its preceding positions. Rank and honours are as at the completion of the individual's tour(s).

Forces Command

Forces Command is the primary command for the land forces of the Australian Army.

Formations:

History

Training Command

Headquarters Training Command was the headquarters of the Australian Army's Training Command (TC-A), which was one of the Army's three commands. The other two where Land Command and Special Operations Command. In 2002 it relocated from Georges Heights, Sydney to Victoria Barracks, Sydney.

In 2010 Training Command merged with Land Command to form Forces Command.