Vice Admiral DK Joshi to be the new Navy Chief

New Delhi: Vice Admiral DK Joshi will take over as the next Chief of Naval Staff. Vice Admiral Joshi is the senior most serving officer after the current Navy Chief Nirmal Verma, who will retire on August 31.

Vice Admiral Joshi is currently heading Western Naval Command. The announcement about his appointment has been made two months in advance as was done in the case of General Bikram Singh, who took over as the Army Chief from General VK Singh on May 31, 2012.

The Vice Admiral is a specialist in anti-submarine warfare and a graduate of the Staff Course from Naval War College, USA. He is also an alumnus of College of Naval Warfare (NHCC), Mumbai and National Defence College, and New Delhi.

Vice Admiral Joshi currently heads Western Naval Command and is a specialist in anti-submarine warfare.

The Flag Officer has commanded three frontline ships in the Western Fleet - Missile Corvette Kuthar, Kashin Class Destroyer Ranvir and aircraft carrier Viraat.

He was awarded Nao Sena Medal (NM), Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) and Yudh Seva Medal (YSM) respectively during these Command assignments. He also commanded the Eastern Fleet, during which he was awarded Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM).

He also served as the Defence Advisor in Singapore, with concurrent accreditation to the Philippines.

He has also served as Commander-in-Chief of the joint services Andaman & Nicobar Command and was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM). He took over as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command on April 30, 2011.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)