Rajiv was born at Gaddi Kheri in Rohtak district on 5 December 1969 to Dharam Singh Joon and Shanti Devi. He was the eldest among six children. His father passed away in 1980 when he 11. The responsibility of raising the six children was shouldered by the mother Shanti Devi. As a child, Rajiv was fascinated by the soldierly aura of his “mausa ji” Brig. Kaptan Singh Kataria, and dreamt of following in his footsteps.
After his primary education, Rajiv joined Sainik School, Kunjpura (Karnal), where his inclination towards Army life got firmed up. After senior secondary, he went on to join the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla, and was commissioned into 22 Grenadiers on 8 June 1991. While in the battalion, Rajiv soon evolved into a dedicated and committed soldier. Even as a subaltern, his bravery and combat skills were noticed by his seniors. The unit was into Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in September 1992. A year later, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant.
On 16 April 1994, Rajiv led his team of Ghataks and eliminated three hardcore militants in a fierce encounter; an act that won him Shaurya Chakra, the third highest military decoration during peace time. Rajiv’s younger brother, Paramjit Joon comments “Rajiv bhaisahab, though a believer, was not too religious. His religion was his motherland, his Paltan and his jawans for whom he would sacrifice even his life.” The summary of the most conspicuous act of bravery by Major Joon is recorded in 22 Grenadiers War Diary.
The entire Kashmir Valley had become a hotbed of militancy by the time 22 Grenadiers was inducted into J&K in September 1992. On 16 September 1994, a search party under Major Rajiv Kumar Joon carried out cordon and search operation in village Arijan Dessar in district Anantnag. Major Rajiv Kumar Joon discovered two militants hiding inside a house in a wall between the door and the ceiling of the room. The hiding militants were persuaded to come out but instead they fired indiscriminately at the search party located at the doorway, injuring a member.
Realising the gravity of the situation, Major Joon ordered his party to cover his move while he closed onto the hideout, crawling under the terrorists’ fire. The trapped militants jumped into the basement of the house and brought heavy fire on the search party from an opening. Major Rajiv Kumar Joon, sensing that his comrades could not engage the well-entrenched militants from their location, crawled up to the loophole on the outer side of the basement at his own risk, lobbed two hand grenades into the loophole, and fired into it killing one hard core Pakistan trained militant. The other militant continued firing from the corner of the basement with renewed vigour.
Major Rajiv Kumar Joon, grievously wounded and profusely bleeding, refused to move back and sprayed bullets all over the basement killing the militant. In this act of extreme courage, he single-handedly killed both the armed militants saving the lives of his comrades. The two killed militants were later identified as self-styled commander of Hizbul Mujahideen. Two AK 56 rifles with three magazines AK 56 and 22 rounds of ammunition were also recovered in this operation. He breathed his last while being evacuated to the Base Hospital.
Major Rajiv Kumar Joon, thus displayed conspicuous courage and gallantry of the highest order. He was posthumously awarded the Ashok Chakra, the highest peacetime military decoration in India, for this most conspicuous act of bravery.
A housing project to provide affordable housing to serving and retired army men has been named in the memory of Late Major Rajiv Kumar Joon. On the occasion, his brother Paramjit Singh Joon was felicitated by the Chief Minister of Haryana.