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New Delhi, November 1 (IANS) Vice Admiral Gurcharan Singh on Saturday met the Chief of Personnel of the Indian Navy and Vice Admiral B. Shivakumar took charge as the 40th Chief of Material. An officer gave this information.
Vice Admiral Singh, an alumnus of the National Defense Academy (Khadakwasla), was commissioned into the Indian Navy on July 1, 1990, an official statement said.
Having held several distinguished appointments both afloat and ashore, he served on board the Indian Naval Ships Ranjit and Prahar, as a specialist in gunnery and missiles. Vice Admiral Singh also has the distinction of being part of the commissioning crews of three indigenously built warships, namely as Gunnery Officer in INS Brahmaputra, as Executive Officer in INS Shivalik, and as Commanding Officer in INS Kochi. He has also commanded INS Vidyut and INS Khukri.
He has been an Instructor at INS Dronacharya (Gunnery School) and Deputy Commandant, Naval War College, Goa. His staff tenure also includes Assistant Chief of Personnel (HRD) and Directorate of Naval Intelligence at NHQ and Indian Navy Work-up Team.
He took over as the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet in November 2022. During this tenure, the fleet maintained a high tempo of operational preparedness with a focus on the mission of ‘armament on target’.
On promotion to the rank of Vice Admiral in January 2024, he was appointed as the Controller Personnel Services, overseeing various initiatives to improve the working conditions of personnel and the naval community. Before assuming charge as Chief of Personnel, he was the Commandant of the NDA.
Vice Admiral Singh was awarded the Admiral Katari Trophy for standing first in the ‘Overall Order of Merit’ of his batch during initial training. Under his command, INS Khukri was awarded the Chief of Naval Staff’s ‘Unit Citation’ in December 2011 for overall operational effectiveness and successful conduct of anti-piracy operations. He has also been awarded the FOC-in-C Commendation (2002), Navy Medal (2020) and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (2024).
His educational qualifications include MSc and MPhil (Defence and Strategic Studies). Apart from the Staff Course at DSSC Wellington, Higher Command at the Naval War College and NDC courses in India, he has attended the Maritime Intelligence Course at the National Intelligence University (NIU), Washington and the United Nations Staff Officers Course (UNSOC) in Stockholm, Sweden.
Vice Admiral Shivakumar is an alumnus of the 70th Course, NDA and was commissioned into the Indian Navy as an Electrical Officer on 1 July 1987.
Having earned a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Chennai, he has a Master’s in Higher Defense Management from Osmania University, an M.Phil from Madras University and is an alumnus of the National Defense College.
During his distinguished and illustrious service of over 38 years, Vice Admiral Shivakumar has held various key appointments at Naval Headquarters, Headquarters ATVP, Naval Dockyard and Command Headquarters. He has served on frontline warships, Indian Naval Ships Ranjit, Kirpan and Akshay and has commanded the premier electrical training base, INS Valsura.
–IANS
RCH/VD