Indian Navy’s Vice Admiral Gurcharan Singh assumed charge as the Controller Personnel Services (CPS) on Monday (15th January 2024). An alumnus of the National Defence Academy (Khadakwasla), he was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 1st July 1990. He is a graduate of Defence Services Staff College (Wellington), Naval War College (Goa) and National Defence College (New Delhi).
The Flag 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, Vice Admiral Gurcharan Singh was appointed as the Chief Staff Officer (Operations), Western Naval Command wherein he planned as well as conducted SAR operations 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 Naval HQ, New Delhi.
Vice Admiral Gurcharan Singh took over as the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet in November 2022. During this tenure, he maintained a high tempo of operational preparedness with a laser sharp focus on the mission of ‘Ordnance on Target.
Gucharan Singh 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 December 2011 for overall operational effectiveness and successful conduct of anti-piracy operations.
Vice Admiral Gurcharan Singh’s 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 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.
