PANAJI
For the villagers of Saligao and Aldona, it is a moment of celebration. Lt Gen Michael Anthony Jude Fernandez traces his roots to these villages, as his parents’ ancestral homes are located here. In January 1994, he married Peral Fiona, who was born in Iringa, Tanzania, at St Thomas Church in Aldona—making him, in every sense, Aldona’s son-in-law.
A distinguished Indian Army officer from Goa, Lt Gen Fernandez has been awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) for his exemplary service to the Indian Army by President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Lt Gen Fernandez’s career has been marked by significant contributions in various operations and assignments, including serving in the Indian Peacekeeping Force in Sri Lanka and as a Sector Engineer at UNIFIL. His dedication and proficiency in missile systems and air defence units have made him a notable figure in the Indian Army.
Originally from Saligao, married in Aldona, he was born in Mokama-Bihar. His grandfather left Saligao to join the Indian Railways. His father too worked for the railways but permanently shifted to Bengaluru. So he completed early education at the ICSE-affiliated St Joseph's Boys High School and then pursued the 11-year ISC from Bishop Cotton Boys School, both in Bengaluru. He passed out of the 72nd Course (Bravo squadron) of the NDA-Pune in 1987. A gold medallist in Electrical Engineering from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, 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 career 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.
His Division bagged the ‘Yudh Abhyas-20,’ the 16th edition (since 2004) of two-week-long Indo-US joint combat drills last year. With a 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 Lt Gen Fernandez. The journal was launched by the Army Chief, Vice Chief and Deputy Chief on Army Day, January 15 2022.
He served at Tawang on the Indo-China border, led an engineer regiment in the High Altitude Area of Kargil, was part of the Indian Peacekeeping Force in Sri Lanka from 1989 to 1990, and commanded an Amphibious Infantry Brigade and then an Infantry Division in the Desert Sector, in diverse terrains. He was a Sector Engineer on the staff in UNIFIL from 2001 to 2002. He represented the Indian Army at the UN CCW deliberations at the UN’s Geneva office in March 2019.
