Visakhapatnam: Vice-Admiral A B Singh takes charge

Visakhapatnam: Vice-Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh took over as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) of the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) from Vice-Admiral Atul Kumar Jain at an impressive ceremonial parade held at the naval base here on Monday.

Vice-Admiral AB Singh inspected the ceremonial guard and reviewed platoons of naval personnel drawn from various ships and establishments of the ENC.

The ceremony was attended by all Flag Officers and Commanding Officers of ships, submarines and establishments.

Later, the FOC-in-C also paid homage to martyrs, who had made the supreme sacrifice in service of the nation, by laying a floral wreath at the War Memorial on the Beach Road.

Commissioned on July 1, 1983, Vice-Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh is an alumnus of the prestigious National Defence Academy (NDA) Khadakvasla. A Navigation and Direction Specialist, Vice-Admiral AB Singh has held various Operational Staff and Command Appointments in his career spanning over 38 years.

He has commanded Indian Naval Ships Veer (Missile Vessel), Vindhyagiri (Frigate), Trishul (Guided Missile Frigate) and Viraat (Aircraft Carrier). The officer has rich operational experience of Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka and Operation Parakram on the Western Seaboard as the Fleet Navigating Officer of Western Fleet.

He has a rich tri-service exposure in jointmanship during the tenure as instructor at NDA and DSSC Wellington, Deputy C-in-C at Strategic Forces Command and Deputy Chief (operations and training) at HQ IDS (prior to assuming Command of the Eastern Naval Command).

For his distinguished service, he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2011 and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2016. The Flag Officer is married to Charu, who now heads the Navy Wives Welfare Association.