KOCHI: Rear Admiral Ravindra Jayanti Nadkarni took charge as the Chief of Staff of the Southern Naval Command, the Training Command of the Navy, on Friday.
Admiral Nadkarni, a ‘navigation and direction’ specialist, has served as navigating officer of INS Kuthar and INS Rana. He has the distinction of commanding ships in every rank, from Lieutenant to Captain; a Coast Guard interceptor boat as Lieutenant; minesweeper INS Cuddalore as Lieutenant Commander; frigate INS Himgiri as Commander; and missile frigate INS Betwa as Captain. He has also served as Command Plans Officer, Western Naval Command (WNC); Director of Naval Intelligence (Operations) at IHQ MoD (Navy), New Delhi; and Chief Staff Officer (Operations) at WNC.
In addition, he has held the post of Directing Staff at Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington, Tamil Nadu. Prior to assuming charge as Chief of Staff, Southern Naval Command, he was Flag Officer Commanding, Karnataka Naval Area, based at Karwar.
Rear Admiral Nadkarni was a member of the tri-service sailing team that sailed onboard Indian Naval Sailing Vessel Samudra during her ‘round-the-world sailing expedition’ in 1988-89.
Admiral Nadkarni, who is recipient of the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2014, in his present appointment will be deputising the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief in the discharge of training and operational roles of the Southern Naval Command.
He was commissioned into the Indian Navy on July 1, 1983. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla; Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington; the College of Naval Warfare (CNW), Karanja; and the National Defence College (NDC), New Delhi.