Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar, AVSM, NM assumed the appointment of Commandant, National Defence Academy on 01 Apr 2022 from Air Marshal Sanjeev Kapoor, AVSM, VM.
As an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar was commissioned in the Indian Navy on 01 Jul 1988. He is a graduate of the Defence Service Staff College, Wellington, Naval War College, Mumbai and Royal College of Defence Studies at United Kingdom.
In a career spanning 34 years, the Flag Officer has held various important and challenging command and staff appointments. He has been the Fleet Commander of the Western Fleet, the sword arm of the Indian Navy where he led the Fleet for critical operational missions, foreign bilateral exercises and major HADR taskings. He has commanded India’s only Aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya and during his tenure the carrier was deployed extensively for Operations on both East & West coasts. The officer has the distinction of commissioning a frontline frigate for the Navy at Kaliningrad, Russia. His other command appointments include INS Kirpan, a missile Corvette and missile vessels during Operation Parakram.
The staff appointments of the Flag officer include Joint Director Naval Plans and Director of Staff Requirements at Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (Navy), wherein he formulated the future maritime perspective and capabilities enhancement plans for the Indian Navy. He has also steered major shipbuilding projects for the Indian Navy as Assistant Controller of Carrier Projects and Assistant Controller of Warship Production and Acquisition.
With him at the helm of affairs, National Defence Academy will gain immensely with his vast experience and exposure in all arenas of operations, training and human resource management.
