Commandant of the National Defence College

Commandant of the
National Defence College
Incumbent
Air Marshal Hardeep Bains
AVSM, VSM
TypeMilitary
StatusActive
FormationJuly 1959
First holderLieutenant General Kanwar Bahadur Singh, MBE
Websitehttps://ndc.nic.in/

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.

History

In July 1959, Lieutenant General Kanwar 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]

Organisation

The Commandant is supported by seven Senior Directing Staff (3 from the Indian Army and 1 each from the Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, 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.[2]

List of Commandants

S.No Name Branch Assumed office Left office Notes
1 Lieutenant General Kanwar Bahadur Singh MBE  Indian Army July 1959 January 1964 First Commandant of NDC[3]
2 Vice Admiral A K Chatterji  Indian Navy January 1964 January 1966 Later served as the Chief of the Naval Staff
3 Air Marshal R Rajaram DFC  Indian Air Force January 1966 December 1966 Later served as Vice Chief of the Air Staff. Died in harness while VCAS.
4 Lieutenant General M M Khanna MVC  Indian Army December 1966 November 1968
5 Vice Admiral S N Kohli PVSM  Indian Navy November 1968 April 1971 Served as Western Naval Commander during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and later served as Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy
6 Air Marshal H Moolgavkar PVSM, MVC  Indian Air Force April 1971 April 1973 Served 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
7 Lieutenant General M N Batra PVSM  Indian Army April 1973 January 1975 First ex-NDC Commandant
8 Vice Admiral S H Sarma PVSM  Indian Navy January 1975 January 1977 Served as Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF) during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and later served as Eastern Naval Commander
9 Air Marshal T N Ghadiok PVSM, AVSM, VrC  Indian Air Force February 1977 December 1978
10 Lieutenant General WAG Pinto PVSM  Indian Army January 1979 January 1980 Later served as the Central Army Commander
11 Air Marshal D G Kinglee PVSM, AVSM  Indian Air Force September 1980 September 1982 Later served as the Central Air Commander
12 Vice Admiral R V Aarte AVSM  Indian Navy September 1982 August 1984
10 Lieutenant General Himmeth Singh PVSM  Indian Army September 1984 June 1986
13 Air Marshal P K Puri PVSM, AVSM  Indian Air Force July 1986 August 1988
14 Vice Admiral S P Govil PVSM, AVSM  Indian Navy September 1988 September 1990 Later served as Vice Chief of Naval Staff
15 Lieutenant General K S Khajuria PVSM  Indian Army September 1990 June 1992
16 Air Marshal S Kulkarni PVSM, VM  Indian Air Force July 1992 January 1995
17 Vice Admiral Vinod Pasricha
PVSM, AVSM, NM		  Indian Navy January 1995 December 1996 Later served as Eastern Naval Commander and Western Naval Commander
18 Lieutenant General SRR Aiyengar
PVSM, AVSM, VSM		  Indian Army January 1997 April 1999 Later served as Commandant of Defence Services Staff College
19 Air Marshal V G Kumar PVSM, AVSM, VM  Indian Air Force April 1999 March 2001
20 Vice Admiral Yashwant Prasad
PVSM, AVSM, VSM		  Indian Navy April 2001 December 2002 Later served as Southern Naval Commander and thereafter the Vice Chief of Naval Staff
21 Lieutenant General S S Chahal
PVSM, AVSM, VSM		  Indian Army December 2002 June 2004
22 Lieutenant General Tej Pathak
AVSM, YSM & Bar		  Indian Army July 2004 December 2004
23 Air Marshal P P Raj Kumar PVSM, AVSM  Indian Air Force January 2005 December 2006 Later served as the Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command and thereafter Central Air Commander
24 Vice Admiral Pradeep Kaushiva UYSM, VSM  Indian Navy December 2006 September 2007
25 Vice Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin
PVSM, AVSM, VSM		  Indian Navy September 2007 December 2008 Later served as the Western Naval Commander
26 Lieutenant General Prakash Menon
AVSM, VSM		  Indian Army January 2009 December 2010
27 Air Marshal P K Roy AVSM, VM, VSM  Indian Air Force January 2011 November 2012 Later served as Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command
28 Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba AVSM  Indian Navy December 2012 June 2014 Later served as the Chief of the Naval Staff
29 Lieutenant General N S Ghei
PVSM, AVSM & Bar		  Indian Army June 2014 December 2016
30 Lieutenant General Y V K Mohan
SM, VSM		  Indian Army January 2017 January 2018 Later served as Commandant of Defence Services Staff College[4]
31 Vice Admiral Srikant AVSM  Indian Navy January 2018 16 December 2019 Later died in harness of COVID-19.[5]
32 Air Marshal Diptendu Choudhury
AVSM, VM, VSM		  Indian Air Force 16 December 2019 30 October 2021 [6]
33 Lieutenant General Manoj Kumar Mago
YSM, SM & Bar 		 Indian Army 31 October 2021 31 December 2022 [7]
34 Lieutenant General Sukriti Singh Dahiya
SM and Bar, VSM 		 Indian Army 1 January 2023 30 April 2024 [8]
35 Air Marshal Hardeep Bains
AVSM, VSM 		Indian Air Force 1 May 2024 Present [9]

List of Commandants by branches of service

Army - 14
Navy - 11
Air Force - 10

See also

References

  1. ^ "History". National Defence College. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  2. ^ "National Defence College". ndc.nic.in. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  3. ^ "Former Commandants". National Defence College. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  4. ^ Press Trust of India (17 January 2019). "Lt.Gen YVK Mohan assumes charge as Commandant DSSC, Wellington". Business Standard. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  5. ^ "Navy's most senior submariner Vice Admiral Srikant dies of COVID-19". The Hindu. 15 December 2020.
  6. ^ "Air Marshal D Choudhury is the new Commandant of National Defence College". 16 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Mago takes over as NDC Commandant". ANI News. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  8. ^ "COMMANDANT NDC". ndc.nic.in. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  9. ^ "Spokesperson MOD". twitter.com. Retrieved 7 May 2024.