Commandant of the National Defence College

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Last edited September 23, 2022
Commandant of the
National Defence College
Incumbent
Lieutenant General Manoj Kumar Mago
YSM, SM and Bar
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. 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.

History[edit | edit source]

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]

List of Commandants[edit | edit source]

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[2]

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[3]

31 Vice Admiral Srikant

AVSM|| Indian Navy|| January 2018 || 16 December 2019 ||Later died in harness of COVID-19.[4]

32 Air Marshal Diptendu Choudhury

AVSM, VM, VSM|| Indian Air Force|| 16 December 2019 || 30 October 2021 ||[5]

33 Lieutenant General Manoj Kumar Mago

YSM, SM & Bar

 Indian Army 31 October 2021 Present

List of Commandants by branches of service[edit | edit source]

Army - 13
Navy - 11
Air Force - 9

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ "History". National Defence College. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  2. ↑ "Former Commandants". National Defence College. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  3. ↑ Press Trust of India (17 January 2019). "Lt.Gen YVK Mohan assumes charge as Commandant DSSC, Wellington". Business Standard. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  4. ↑ "Navy's most senior submariner Vice Admiral Srikant dies of COVID-19". The Hindu. 15 December 2022.
  5. ↑ "Air Marshal D Choudhury is the new Commandant of National Defence College". 16 December 2019.
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