Major Ravi Vaish was born on 31st December 1978 in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. He passed his Combined Defence Services Examination in 1999 and joined the Indian Military Academy Dehradun. He got commissioned as an infantry officer into the 5 Gorkha Rifles Regiment. After serving for a few years with his unit in Arunachal Pradesh and Lucknow, Major Ravi was later deputed to serve with 1 Assam Rifles deployed in the North East for counter-insurgency operations. During 2007, Major Ravi’s unit 1 Assam Rifles was deployed in the Ukhrul district of Manipur and was undertaking operations against the militants engaged in anti-national activities in the northeast.
| Service Number | IC 61844 |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit | 1 Assam Rifles |
| Regiment | 5 Gorkha Rifles |
| Date of Martyrdom | 31st October 2007 |
On 31st October 2007, Major Ravi was leading a convoy with 25 soldiers and a truckload of ammunition that had set off from the base camp located in Sorde. The convoy was heading to an outpost at Kaesong falling in Phungyar, a hilly and heavily forested area in the Ukhrul district of Manipur. The area was known to have poor visibility conditions most of the time owing to the thick vegetation of the dense forest. However, before the convoy could reach the outpost a group of heavily armed militants made a surprise attack on the convoy. Major Ravi and his troops though taken aback by the surprise attack swung into action and retaliated to give a befitting reply. A fierce gun battle ensued thereafter however during the heavy exchange of fire Major Ravi and his two soldiers Hav Gyaneshwar Prasad and Rifleman H Sahinti got seriously injured. They later succumbed to their injuries and were martyred.
Major Ravi Vaish is survived by his parents, brother Saurabh Vaish and sister Neerja Vaish.
