Lam Dorji

Lam Dorji (23 October 1933 – 27 April 2020) was the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) from 1964 to 2005. He was succeeded by Batoo Tshering on 1 November 2005.

Military career

Goongloen Gongma Lam Dorji passed out from the Indian Military Academy in Dehra Dun, India, at the end of 1954 and completed a post training attachment with a range of Indian Army units and schools of instruction. In March, 1959, he received his first assignment, to establish the RBA training centre in Wangduephodrang. He also represented the Armed Forces at the National Assembly. In 1962, during the Indo-China war, he was posted in Lingmithang to oversee the training of a militia force drawn from Kurtoe, Bumthang, Mongar, and Shumar (now Pema Gatshel). He was promoted to the rank of Maktsi Wongma (Lt. Colonel) on August 7, 1962, and served as the Commandant, Training Centre, from 1963 to 1964. On November 25, 1964, he was appointed as the Chief Operations Officer at the army headquarters in Thimphu by the late King, His Majesty [Jigme Dorji Wangchuck], who promoted him as Maktsi (Full Colonel) in 1970. His Majesty King [Jigme Singye Wangchuck] promoted him to the rank of Goongloen Wogma (Maj. General) in June, 1981. He was further promoted as Goongloen Gongma (Lt. General) on August 2, 1991.(see Ref.1 below) Goongloen Gongma Lam Dorji, like other members of his generation, helped pioneer the infrastructure development of Bhutan as His Majesty the King took over the helm in the early 1970s.

Other activities

As General Secretary of the National Sports Association of Bhutan, from 1974 to 1978, he worked directly under His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck to develop the Changlimithang Stadium and the Royal Thimphu Golf Club. In 1979, under the command of His Majesty, the RBA built the 21-kilometre Laptsakha irrigation channel in Punakha, at a fraction of the estimated cost, enabling the resettlement of over 200 landless pensioners and bringing into cultivation over 1,200 acres of land. In 1981 he was appointed Chairman of the Government Welfare Project, now known as the Army Welfare Project (AWP), a project conceived and launched by His Majesty to generate funds for the welfare of servicemen and to provide employment for retired personnel. Aimed at being a sustainable commercial venture that proved to be an example to other government ventures and corporations, AWP now earns more than Nu. 200 million a year. In 1983 he was assigned command and control of the Royal Bhutan Police by His Majesty to reorganise and streamline the service conditions and improve the morale of the RBP. During the Ngolop uprising of 1990, the RBA safeguarded the security of the nation at a time when the southern Dzongkhags saw unprecedented violence. Under the personal leadership of His Majesty the King the RBA rose to the challenge of flushing out the Indian militants who were illegally camped on Bhutanese soil in 2003. (see Ref 2. below)

Goongloen Gongma Lam Dorji is proud that, during 41 years as Chief Operations Officer, he developed a close rapport with 15 Chief of Army Staff of the Indian army. Generals and senior officers of the Indian army expressed their deep appreciation, over the years, for the outstanding contributions made by General Lam Dorji in enhancing the close friendship and cooperation between the Indian army and the Royal Bhutan Army, thereby contributing to the strengthening of Indo-Bhutan relations. As the Chief Operations Officer, Goongloen accompanied His Majesty the King to the summits of the Non Aligned Movement and SAARC as well as His Majesty's public meetings around the country.

Awards and decorations

For dedicated and distinguished service to the Tsa-Wa-Sum (King, Country and People), he was awarded Druk Zhung Thugsay medal in July 1969, by His Majesty Jigme Dorji Wangchuck. In 1991 His Majesty the King Jigme Singye Wangchuck awarded him the highest medal of the Royal Bhutan Army, the Druk Yugyel (DYG). In recognition of his long and dedicated service to the Tsawa-Sum he was awarded the Drakpoi Wangyal by His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck in 2001. Druk Thuksey awarded by His Majesty the Fifth King of Bhutan on 17 December 2010 for 49 years of service under the Third and Fourth Kings. His Majesty the Fifth King of Bhutan said that Lam Dorji had already received the highest awards of the nation but was being recognized on 17 December 2010 as a symbolic gesture to present him to the youth as an example and to show that, ‘service to the nation shall never go forgotten.’