He completed his studies at the SRML Higher Secondary School, Jammu and joined the National Defence Academy (NDA) in 1959.

He was involved was the planning and execution of Operation Khukri – to extricate trapped Indian peacekeeping troops in Sierra Leone.

The formations he has commanded include a mountain brigade involved in active counter-insurgency operations in the north east, an elite RAPID (Reorganised Army Plains Infantry Division) unit, the XXI Strike Corps based at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh[7] and the IV Corps based at Tezpur, Assam.

On 1 October 2000, Vij was appointed as the GOC of Southern Command at Pune and led the army's rescue efforts during the 2001 Gujarat earthquake.

He was the founder-Vice Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, in 2005, with an equivalent rank of a Union Minister of State.

Gen N C Vij along with two other former military chiefs – General Deepak Kapoor, and Admiral Madhvendra Singh offered to give up their apartments.