Vice Admiral Gurcharan Singh, NM Takes Helm as Controller Personnel Services, Pledges Commitment to Naval Excellence
Vice Admiral Gurcharan Singh assumed charge as the Controller Personnel Services (CPS) on 15 Jan 24. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy (Khadakwasla), he was commissioned into Indian Navy on 01 Jul 1990 and is a graduate of Defence Services Staff College (Wellington), Naval War College (Goa) and National Defence College (New Delhi).
The Flagg Officer has held several command and staff appointments, both afloat and ashore. As a specialist in Gunnery and Missiles, he has served on Indian Naval Ships Ranjit, Prahar and Brahmaputra. He has commanded INS Vidyut. INS Khukri and INS Kochi. He has been an instructor at INS Dronacharya (Gunnery School) and the Deputy Commandant of Naval War College (Goa). His staff tenures include appointments at Directorate of Personnel/ NHQ, Directorate of Naval Intelligence/ NHQ, and the Indian Naval Work- up Team
Upon promotion to Flag rank in Jan 21, he was appointed as the Chief Staff Officer (Operations), Western Naval Command wherein he planned & conducted SAR ops during Cyclone Taukte, supply chain of Liquid Medical Oxygen during Op Samudra Setu II; and several other op missions and deployments, including exercises with foreign Navies. Thereafter, he served as the Assistant Chief of Personnel (HRD) at NHQ, New Delhi. On 29 Nov 22, he took over as the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet. During this tenure, he maintained high tempo of operational preparedness with a laser sharp focus on the mission of ‘Ordnance on Target.
The Flag Officer holds the distinction of being part of the commissioning crew of three Indian constructed warships, viz., INS Brahmaputra/ as Gunnery Officer, INS Shivalik/ as Executive Officer, and INS Kochi/ as Commanding Officer. He was awarded the Admiral Katarı Trophy for standing ‘First in Overall Order of Merit of his batch during ab initio training. He has also been awarded the FOC-in-C commendation (2002) and the Nao Sena Medal (2020). Under his command, INS Khukri was awarded the ‘Unit Citation’ in Dec 11 for overall operational effectiveness and successful conduct of anti-piracy operations.
His academic qualifications include MSc and MPhil (Defence & Strategic Studies) In addition to the Staff, Higher Command and NDC courses in India, he has attended the Maritime Intelligence Course at National Intelligence University (NIU). Washington, and the United Nations Staff Officers Course (UNSOC) at Stockholm, Sweden.
The Flag Officer is married to Mrs Kamaljit Chatha, an MBA graduate in marketing and finance. They have two daughters – Anushka and Tammanna. Anushka, an Electronics Engineer is working with Amazon Web Services, and Tammanna is pursuing graduation in Humanities at Jaihind College, Mumbai.
