Sunil Lanba is the Next Navy Chief, to Take Charge from May 31,2016

Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) of Western Naval Command, has been appointed as the new Chief of Naval Staff and will assume charge on May 31,2016

58-year-old Lanba, a specialist in Navigation and Direction, will have the full three-year tenure as the Navy Chief. He will succeed Admiral RK Dhowan who is retiring.

An alumnus of Defence Services Staff College, he will be the 21st Indian to be the Navy Chief. The first two were British.

He will take over from Admiral Dhowan on the afternoon of May 31,2016 and will be in office till May 31, 2019.

About Sunil Lanba

Coming in with rich operational and staff experience over a career spanning more than three decades, Sunil Lanba has served as Navigating Officer of corvette INS Sindhudurg and frigate INS Dunagiri.

Sunil Lanba has commanded four frontline warships -- INS Kakinada (minesweeper), INS Himgiri (frigate) and INS Ranvijay and INS Mumbai, both destroyers.

Sunil Lanba is also an alumnus of the College of Defence Management, Secunderabad, where he has served as a faculty.

Sunil Lanba has also held key staff assignments such as Fleet Operations Officer of the Western Fleet and the Chief of Staff, Southern and Eastern Naval Commands.

Sunil Lanba was also the Flag Officer Sea Training, Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra and Gujarat Naval Area and Commandant, National Defence College.

Sunil Lanba was the Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Naval Command at Kochi, prior to being appointed to head the Western Naval Command. He took over as the Vice Chief on June 2, 2014.

Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba is a recipient of the Param Vishist Seva Medal and the Athi Vishist Seva Medal for distinguished service of an exceptionally high order