KOCHI:Rear Admiral R B Pandit has taken charge as the new Chief of Staff of the Southern Naval Command - the Training Command of the Navy.
Rear Admiral R B Pandit was commissioned into the Indian Navy in July 1984. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla; Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington; the College of Naval Warfare (CNW), Mumbai; and the Royal College of Defence Studies ( RCDS), London.
He is an anti-submarine warfare specialist, whose important afloat tenures include specialist appointments onboard the ‘Rajput’ class of ships; command of missile corvette, a leander-class frigate, and INS Jalashwa - the only landing platform dock of the Indian Navy. He also holds the distinction of having commanded the Killer Squadron in Mumbai, which has won laurels in the Indo-Pak war of 1971.
Some of the important staff appointments held by the Flag Officer include Fleet ASW Officer of the Eastern Fleet; the Principal Director of Staff Requirement at the Naval Headquarters; instructor at the Naval Academy, Goa; Directing Staff at the Defence Service Staff College, Wellington, and at the College of Naval Warfare, Mumbai. He has also been the Indian Naval Adviser at the High Commission of India, Islamabad, during ‘Operation Parakram’.
Prior to assuming charge as the Chief of Staff, Southern Naval Command, Rear Admiral R B Pandit was ACNS (Foreign Cooperation and Intelligence) at the Naval Headquarters, immediately after being promoted to the Flag rank.
The officer, in his present capacity as the Chief of Staff, will be deputising the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief in the discharge of the training and operational roles of the Southern Naval Command.