Visakhapatnam: Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain takes charge as FOC-in-C of Eastern Naval Command

Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain took over as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command on Thursday.

"Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain, AVSM, VSM took over as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C), Eastern Naval Command (ENC) from Vice Admiral Karambir Singh, PVSM, AVSM, ADC at an impressive Ceremonial Parade held at the Naval Base here today," Defence Ministry said in a release.

Vice Admiral Jain inspected the Ceremonial Guard and reviewed platoons of Naval personnel drawn from various ships and establishments of the ENC. The ceremony was also attended by all Flag Officers and Commanding Officers of ships, submarines and establishments.

Vice Admiral Karambir Singh, the outgoing FOC-in-C, will assume charge as the Chief of the Naval Staff on May 31. Singh will be replacing Admiral Sunil Lanba who retires after around four decades of distinguished service.

Commissioned into the Indian Navy in July 1982, Vice Admiral Jain is an alumnus of Sainik School Rewa, National Defence Academy (Pune), the Defence Services Staff College (Wellington), the College of Naval Warfare (Mumbai) and the National Defence College (Pretoria, South Africa).

The Admiral is a graduate of Jawaharlal Nehru University (Delhi) and has received his Masters in Defence and Strategic Studies from the Madras University.

A Gunnery and Missile specialist, Vice Admiral Jain has held various Operational, Staff and Command Appointments in the course of his distinguished career spanning over 37 years.

Vice Admiral Jain has commanded INS Nirghat (Missile Boat), INS Khukri (Missile Corvette), INS Rajput (Destroyer) and the indigenously built Destroyer, INS Mysore. He also had the privilege of being the commissioning Executive Officer of INS Brahmaputra and the Fleet Operations Officer of the Eastern Fleet at Visakhapatnam. His appointments ashore include Director Naval Intelligence (Protocol), Director Foreign Liaison and Principal Director Staff Requirement at Integrated Headquarters, Ministry of Defence (Navy), New Delhi.

On promotion to the Flag Rank in Oct 2011, he was appointed as the first Flag Officer Commanding Karnataka Naval Area. Thereafter, he commanded the prestigious Eastern Fleet and had also served as the Chief of Staff of Southern Naval Command.

He was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral on 01 Apr 15 while he was Controller Personnel Services (CPS). The Flag Officer was holding the appointment of Chief of Staff, HQ ENC from Feb 16 to Dec 17 and Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff at New Delhi prior to taking over as the C-in-C. For his distinguished service, he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2009 and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2015.

Eastern Naval Command is one of the three major formations of Indian Navy headquartered at Visakhapatnam.

( With inputs from ANI )