Jaidev Singh Datta was born in 1927 in Lahore. After graduating from Government College, Lahore, he got his commission in the Regiment of Artillery in 1948, from Post-War Third Course of the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. After some regimental service, he graduated from Camberley Staff College, United Kingdom in 1961. He served as Brigade Major 62 Infantry Brigade at Se La in 1962. In 1965, he raised 73 Medium, a new regiment equipped with Soviet 130 mm guns. During the Indo-Pak war of 1971, he served as Colonel General Staff at Amritsar. He commanded 39 Artillery Brigade at Yol-Alhilal near Dharmsala, Himachal Pradesh. In 1975, he was posted as Military Attaché in the erstwhile Soviet Union in Moscow, and was concurrently accredited to Outer Mongolia. From Moscow, he went on to serve as Major General Artillery Eastern Command, Calcutta, and finally as Major General Administration Western Command, Shimla, from where he retired in 1983. After retiring, he settled in New Delhi where he lives with his wife Kushal. His son is in Melbourne, Australia and daughter in North Carolina, USA.