Born on December 5, 1940 at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala,
Lt Gen S Padmanabhan is an alumnus of the Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun from where he joined NDA in 1956. He was commissioned in the Regiment of Artillery from the Indian Military Academy on December 13, 1959.

During his long and varied career in the Army, Lt Gen Padmanabhan held many prestigious command, staff and instructional assignments. A graduate from the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and the National Defence College, New Delhi, his first command was that of famous Gazala Mountain Regiment, a very old and battle-tested unit of the Artillery. He has a unique distinction of having commanded an artillery brigade and two infantry brigades in vastly diverse areas and terrain between July 1985 to February 1991. As a Major General he took over a frontline Infantry Division in the Western Sector and was General Officer Commanding of a Corps in Kashmir Valley, when he was a Lieutenant General.

He has also been a Brigade Major of an Infantry Brigade on its raising, Colonel General Staff of a Mountain Division, instructor in gunnery at the School of Artillery, two tenures as instructor at Indian Military Academy, Chief of Staff of a Corps in the Eastern Sector and Director General of Military Intelligence at Army Headquarters. He took over as General Officer Commanding of Northern Command on September 1, 1996 and later became GOC-in-C of Southern Command on January 3, 1999.

A recipient of PVSM, AVSM, VSM and an Honorary ADC to the President of India, Lt Gen Padmanabhan will assume the charge of the Chief of the Army Staff in the rank of General from October 1, 2000.