Commandant of the National Defence Academy

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Last edited June 21, 2022


Template:Infobox official post

The Commandant of the National Defence Academy is the head and overall in-charge of the National Defence Academy. The Commandant of the Academy is a Three-star rank officer from the three Services in rotation. He is supported by the Deputy Commandant (a Two-star rank appointment),[1] Brigadier Administration (Brig Adm),[2] Principal Director (Training)[3] (both One-Star appointments), a Civilian Principal[4] and the Adjutant (An Officer of the rank of Lieutenant Colonel).[5]

Commissioned as Joint Services Wing (JSW), the interim training academy was set up at the Indian Military Academy (IMA). The first Commandant of JSW was Major General Thakur Mahadeo Singh, DSO. The present-day National Defence Academy was constructed in Pune and was formally commissioned on 7 December 1954 as the successor to JSW of IMA. The program of JSW was transferred from IMA to NDA. Major General E Habibullah was the last head of the JSW and the First Commandant of NDA at Pune.[6]

Joint Services Wing at Indian Military Academy

S.No. Name Branch Assumed office Left office Notes
1 Major General Thakur Mahadeo Singh, DSO Template:Army 1 January 1949 12 March 1950 First head of JSW at IMA
2 Major General K S Thimayya, DSO Template:Army 13 March 1950 16 June 1951 Later served as the Chief of Army Staff of Indian Army
3 Major General MS Wadalia Template:Army 1 September 1951 6 January 1953 [7]
4 Major General E Habibullah Template:Army 7 January 1953 6 December 1954 Last head of JSW at IMA[8]

National Defence Academy

S.No. Name Branch Assumed office Left office Notes
1 Major General E Habibullah Template:Army 7 December 1954 26 December 1958 First Commandant at NDA, Khadakwasla
2 Rear Admiral Benjamin Abraham Samson Template:Navy 27 December 1958 1 January 1963 First non-army and also the first Naval Officer to be the Commandant. Later Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet (FOCIF).
3 Air Vice Marshal K L Sondhi Template:Air force 6 January 1963 25 September 1963 First Air Force Officer to be the Commandant.
4 Major General R Bakhshi, MC Template:Army 26 September 1963 8 August 1966
5 Air Vice Marshal S N Goyal Template:Air force 9 August 1966 18 June 1968
6 Rear Admiral R N Batra Template:Navy 19 June 1968 15 October 1970
7 Major General S D Gupta Template:Army 16 October 1970 1 January 1973
8 Air Vice Marshal M B Naik Template:Air force 3 January 1973 7 March 1976
9 Rear Admiral M P Awati, PVSM, VrC Template:Navy 8 March 1976 22 July 1977 Later served as FOC-in-C, Western Naval Command.
10 Major General R K Jasbir Singh Template:Army 22 July 1977 22 May 1979
11 Air Marshal M J Dotiwalla Template:Air force 9 July 1979 30 June 1982 First three-star air force officer (Air Marshal) to be the commandant.
12 Rear Admiral R P Sawhney Template:Navy 1 July 1982 15 August 1985 First Ex-NDA commandant. Alumnus of the first NDA (JSW) Course.
13 Lieutenant General Sami Khan, PVSM, SM Template:Army 16 August 1985 2 November 1986 First three-star army officer (Lt Gen) to be the commandant. Later served as GOC-in-C Central Command.
14 Lieutenant General K L K Singh Template:Army 12 December 1986 28 June 1988
15 Air Marshal D S Sabhikhi, AVSM Template:Air force 29 June 1988 31 August 1991
16 Vice Admiral Inderjit Bedi, AVSM Template:Navy 1 September 1991 11 October 1993 First three-star naval officer (V Adm) to be the commandant. Later served as FOC-in-C Southern Naval Command.
17 Lieutenant General S K Jetley, AVSM, SM Template:Army 12 October 1993 24 March 1995
18 Air Marshal A S Sethi, ADC Template:Air force 25 March 1995 31 January 1996
19 Air Marshal J S Rai, VM & bar Template:Air force 0 February 1996 9 January 1997
20 Vice Admiral Arun Prakash, PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM Template:Navy 31 July 1997 19 March 1999 Later served as the Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy
21 Lieutenant General S B S Kochar, PVSM, AVSM Template:Army 13 April 1999 31 March 2001
22 Air Marshal A K Trikha, AVSM, VSM Template:Air force 1 April 2001 31 December 2002
23 Vice Admiral S C S Bangara, PVSM, AVSM Template:Navy 31 December 2002 24 July 2004
24 Lieutenant General A K Chopra, PVSM, AVSM Template:Army 4 August 2004 30 November 2006
25 Air Marshal T S Randhawa, VM Template:Air force 1 December 2006 31 December 2008
26 Vice Admiral R K Dhowan, AVSM, YSM Template:Navy 1 January 2008 22 November 2009 Later served as the Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy.
27 Vice Admiral Satish Soni, AVSM, NM Template:Navy 23 November 2009 31 December 2010 Later served as the FOC-in-C of Southern and Eastern Commands of Indian Navy.
28 Lieutenant General Jatinder Singh, AVSM & bar, SM Template:Army 1 January 2011 5 July 2012 Removed from the position. Accused of being involved in recruitment scandal.[9]
29 Lieutenant General Ashok Singh, AVSM, SM, VSM Template:Army 7 August 2012 31 December 2012 Later served as the GOC-in-C of Southern Command of Indian Army.[10]
30 Air Marshal K S Gill, AVSM, YSM, VM Template:Air force 1 January 2013 30 July 2014 Later served as the AOC-in-C of Central Command of Indian Air Force[11]
31 Air Marshal R K S Bhadauria, AVSM, VM Template:Air force 1 August 2014 30 January 2015 Later served as Chief of the Air Staff[12]
32 Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar, AVSM, VSM Template:Navy 1 April 2015 4 June 2016 Later served as the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff
33 Air Marshal Jasjit Singh Kler AVSM, VM Template:Air force 4 June 2016 31 March 2018
34 Air Marshal I P Vipin, VM Template:Air force 1 April 2018 15 December 2019 Current Senior Air Staff Officer at Central Air Command[13]
35 Lieutenant General Asit Mistry, AVSM, SM, VSM Template:Army 19 February 2020 30 October [14]
36 Air Marshal Sanjeev Kapoor AVSM, VM Template:Air force 31 October 2021 31 March 2022 [15]
37 Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar, AVSM, NM Template:Navy 1 April 2022 Present [16]

List of Commandants by branches of service

Army - 15
Navy - 11
Air Force - 14

See also

References

Template:Indian military academies and colleges