Vice Admiral Gurcharan Singh, AVSM, NM is a serving Flag officer in the Indian Navy. He assumed the appointment of Commandant, National Defence Academy on 25 May 2024 from Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar. He earlier served as the Controller Personnel Services and as the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet.
Gurcharan Singh | |
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| Allegiance |  India |
| Service |  Indian Navy |
| Years of service | 1990 - present |
| Rank | _OF-8.svg){kind=small}  Vice Admiral |
| Commands | Eastern Fleet INS Kochi (D64) INS Khukri (P49) INS Vidyut (K48) |
| Awards |  Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Nao Sena Medal |
Early life and education
editSingh was born in a naval family. His father was a gunnery officer and was posted at INS Venduruthy and subsequently at the gunnery school INS Dronacharya. Singh spent his childhood in Kochi and attended the Kendriya Vidyalaya Naval Base Kochi. After his schooling, he joined the National Defence Academy, Pune.[1]
Singh has attended the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, the Naval War College, Goa and the National Defence College.[2] he has also attended the Maritime Intelligence Course at National Intelligence University (NIU), Washington, D.C. and the United Nations Staff Officers Course (UNSOC) at Stockholm, Sweden.[3]
Naval career
editSingh was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 1 July 1990. He is a specialist in Gunnery and missile Warfare. During his ab-initio training, he placed first in the overall order of merit and was awarded the Admiral RD Katari Trophy.[4] He has served in specialist tenures on board the Rajput-class destroyer INS Ranjit (D53) and the Veer-class corvette INS Prahar (K98). He was the commissioning gunnery officer of the lead ship of her class of guided missile frigates INS Brahmaputra (1994). He was also the commissioning executive officer of the lead ship of her class of stealth guided missile frigates INS Shivalik (F47).[5]
Singh has commanded the Veer-class missile vessel INS Vidyut (K48), and the lead ship of her class of missile corvettes INS Khukri (P49). During his command of the Khukri, in December 2011, the ship was awarded the Unit Citation for successful conduct of anti-piracy operations.[5] He subsequently commissioned the Kolkata-class stealth guided-missile destroyer INS Kochi (D64) as the commanding officer. He thus has the distinction of being part of the commissioning crew of three ships - Brahmaputra, Shivalik and Kochi.[6]
Singh, in his staff appointments, has served as the training coordinator at the gunnery base INS Dronacharya. He also served as the Director of Naval Intelligence at Naval headquarters. As a Commodore, he served as the Chief Staff Officer and Commodore Work Up at Indian Naval Workup Team Kochi (INWT), under the Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST). For his tenure at INWT, on 26 January 2020, he was awarded the Nao Sena Medal for devotion to duty.[7][8] He subsequently served as the Deputy Commandant of his alma mater, Naval War College, Goa.[2]
Flag rank
edit
On promotion to Flag rank, Singh took over as the Chief Staff Officer (Operations) (CSO Ops) at the Western Naval Command.[9][10] As CSO (Ops), he planned and executed the search and rescue operations during Cyclone Tauktae. He also planned the Operation Samudra Setu II, where warships were deployed for shipment of liquid medical oxygen and medical equipment from various countries.[11][5]
He also served as the Assistant Chief of Personnel (Human Resource Development) (ACOP HRD) at naval headquarters. ACOP is an assistant principal staff officer appointment. On 29 November 2022, he assumed the office of the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF), taking over from Rear Admiral Sanjay Bhalla.[12] After a year-long tenure, he relinquished charge to Rear Admiral Rajesh Dhankhar. For his tenure as FOCEF, he was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal on 26 January 2024.[13] In the same month, he was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral and appointed Controller Personnel Services at NHQ.[5] After a short stint as CPS, he was appointed Commandant of the National Defence Academy. He took over from Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar on 25 May 2024.[3]
Personal life
editSingh is married to Kamaljit Chatha. The couple has two daughters, Anushka and Tammanna.[5]
Awards and decorations
editSingh was awarded the FOC-in-C commendation in 2002, the Nao Sena Medal in 2020 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2024.
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See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Captain back in city of childhood". The Hindu. 26 November 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
- ^ a b "Rear Admiral Gurcharan Singh takes over Command of Eastern Fleet | Indian Navy". www.indiannavy.nic.in. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
- ^ a b "Vice Admiral Gurcharan Singh takes over as Commandant, National Defence Academy". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ Dolare, Rahul (29 November 2022). "Rear Adm Gurcharan Singh takes over Command of the Eastern Fleet". Punekar News. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
- ^ a b c d e "VICE ADMIRAL GURCHARAN SINGH, NM ASSUMES CHARGE AS CONTROLLER PERSONNEL SERVICES". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
- ^ Bureau, The Hindu (30 November 2022). "Rear Admiral Gurcharan Singh takes over command of Eastern Fleet". The Hindu. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
{{cite web}}:|last1=has generic name (help) - ^ "Distinguished service and gallantry award winners on Republic day 2020". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
- ^ "Naval Investiture Ceremony– 2020". www.pib.gov.in.
- ^ "Welcome to High Commission of India, Colombo, Sri Lanka". hcicolombo.gov.in. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
- ^ "Tri Nation Table Top Naval Exercise - Shield held at WNC". Aeromag Online. 16 July 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
- ^ "Seven Indian Navy Ships Deployed for Op Samudra Setu II | Indian Navy". indiannavy.nic.in. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
- ^ Eastern Naval Command [@IN_HQENC] (29 November 2022). "Rear Admiral Gurcharan Singh, NM took over Command of the Eastern #Fleet from Rear Admiral Sanjay Bhalla, NM on 29 November 2022, at an impressive ceremony held at #Visakhapatnam. @DefenceMinIndia @indiannavy @IndiannavyMedia @IN_EasternFleet @PRO_Vizag https://t.co/obV3G9IoQX" (Tweet). Retrieved 23 February 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ "75th REPUBLIC DAY PRESIDENT APPROVES DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AND GALLANTRY AWARDS TO INDIAN NAVY PERSONNEL". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 26 January 2024.