Commandant of the National Defence College

The Commandant of the National Defence College in India is the overall in-charge of all the functioning of the National Defence College including academics and administration. The Commandant of the College is a Three-star rank officer from the three Services in rotation for a term of two years. He is supported by five Senior Directing Staff from the three services and one each from the Civil Service and the Foreign Service. Administration is looked after by the Secretary under the Commandant and is supported by a number of Staff Officers.

Commandant of the
National Defence College
Incumbent
Air Marshal
Diptendu Choudhury
AVSM, VM, VSM
TypeMilitary
StatusActive
FormationJuly 1959
First holderLieutenant General Kanwar Bahadur Singh, MBE
Websitewww.ndc.nic.in

History

In July 1959, Lt Gen K Bahadur Singh was appointed the first Commandant of the College. By the end of the year, he formulated detailed plans including the aim and the charter of NDC as well as the scope of studies at the College. The Chiefs of Staff cleared approved them on December 25, 1959.[1]

List of Commandants
S.No Name Branch Assumed Office Left Office Notes
1Lieutenant General Kanwar Bahadur Singh MBE Indian ArmyJuly 1959January 1964First Commandant of NDC[2]
2Vice Admiral A K Chatterji Indian NavyJanuary 1964January 1966Later served as the Chief of the Naval Staff
3Air Marshal R Rajaram DFC Indian Air ForceJanuary 1966December 1966Later served as Vice Chief of the Air Staff. Died in harness while VCAS.
4Lieutenant General M M Khanna MVC Indian ArmyDecember 1966November 1968
5Vice Admiral S N Kohli PVSM Indian NavyNovember 1968April 1971Served as Western Naval Commander during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and later served as Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy
6Air Marshal H Moolgavkar PVSM, MVC Indian Air ForceApril 1971April 1973Served as the Central Air Commander and Western Air Commander before taking over as the 9th Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force
7Lieutenant General M N Batra PVSM Indian ArmyApril 1973January 1975First ex-NDC Commandant
8Vice Admiral S H Sarma PVSM Indian NavyJanuary 1975January 1977Served as Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF) during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and later served as Eastern Naval Commander
9Air Marshal T N Ghadiok PVSM, AVSM, VrC Indian Air ForceFebruary 1977December 1978
10Lieutenant General WAG Pinto PVSM Indian ArmyJanuary 1979January 1980Later served as the Central Army Commander
11Air Marshal D G Kinglee PVSM, AVSM Indian Air ForceSeptember 1980September 1982Later served as the Central Air Commander
12Vice Admiral R V Aarte AVSM Indian NavySeptember 1982August 1984
10Lieutenant General Himmeth Singh PVSM Indian ArmySeptember 1984June 1986
13Air Marshal P K Puri PVSM, AVSM Indian Air ForceJuly 1986August 1988
14Vice Admiral S P Govil PVSM, AVSM Indian NavySeptember 1988September 1990Later served as Vice Chief of Naval Staff
15Lieutenant General K S Khajuria PVSM Indian ArmySeptember 1990June 1992
16Air Marshal S Kulkarni PVSM, VM Indian Air ForceJuly 1992January 1995
17Vice Admiral Vinod Pasricha PVSM, AVSM, NM Indian NavyJanuary 1995December 1996Later served as Eastern Naval Commander and Western Naval Commander
18Lieutenant General SRR Aiyengar PVSM, AVSM, VSM Indian ArmyJanuary 1997April 1999Later served as Commandant of Defence Services Staff College
19Air Marshal V G Kumar PVSM, AVSM, VM Indian Air ForceApril 1999March 2001
20Vice Admiral Yashwant Prasad PVSM, AVSM, VSM Indian NavyApril 2001December 2002Later served as Southern Naval Commander and thereafter the Vice Chief of Naval Staff
21Lieutenant General S S Chahal PVSM, AVSM, VSM Indian ArmyDecember 2002June 2004
22Lieutenant General Tej Pathak AVSM, YSM & Bar Indian ArmyJuly 2004December 2004
23Air Marshal P P Raj Kumar PVSM, AVSM Indian Air ForceJanuary 2005December 2006Later served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command and thereafter Central Air Commander
24Vice Admiral Pradeep Kaushiva UYSM, VSM Indian NavyDecember 2006September 2007
25Vice Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin PVSM, AVSM, VSM Indian NavySeptember 2007December 2008Later served as the Western Naval Commander
26Lieutenant General Prakash Menon AVSM, VSM Indian ArmyJanuary 2009December 2010
27Air Marshal P K Roy AVSM, VM, VSM Indian Air ForceJanuary 2011November 2012Later served as Commander-in-Chief of Andaman and Nicobar Command
28Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba AVSM Indian NavyDecember 2012June 2014Later served as the Chief of the Naval Staff
29Lieutenant General N S Ghei PVSM, AVSM & Bar Indian ArmyJune 2014December 2016
30Lieutenant General Y V K Mohan SM, VSM Indian ArmyJanuary 2017January 2018Current Commandant of Defence Services Staff College[3]
31Vice Admiral Srikant AVSM Indian NavyJanuary 201816 December 2019
32Air Marshal Diptendu Choudhury AVSM, VM, VSM Indian Air Force16 December 2019To date[4]

List of Commandants by branches of service

Army - 12
Navy - 11
Air Force - 9

See also

References
  1. "History". National Defence College. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  2. "Former Commandants". National Defence College. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  3. Press Trust of India (17 January 2019). "Lt.Gen YVK Mohan assumes charge as Commandant DSSC, Wellington". Business Standard. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  4. "Air Marshal D Choudhury is the new Commandant of National Defence College". 16 December 2019.
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