Admiral Arun Prakash, PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM, ADC

Admiral Arun Prakash was born in Anantnag, in the Kashmir valley, in October 1944. His father served in the Kashmir Civil Service, retiring as the District Commissioner of Leh, and young Arun's early childhood was spent in various towns of the Valley as well as Jammu and Ladakh districts.

Although his two elder brothers served in the Indian Army, Admiral Arun Prakash was struck by "sea fever" from an early age and joined the National Defence Academy as a Naval Cadet in 1961. He was commissioned into the Executive Branch of the Indian Navy on 01 Jan 1966. He specialized in aviation, and qualified as an aircraft- carrier pilot on the Sea Hawk jet fighter from the deck of INS Vikrant in 1968.

His aviation tenures include service in IN Air Squadrons 550{Islanders), 551 {vampires/Kirans), and 300 (sea Hawk/Sea Harriers). In 1976, when the Maritime Reconnaissance role came to the Navy, he converted to, and briefly flew the four-engined Super Constellation in INAS 312. He has commanded two Air Squadrons, and the Naval Air Station INS Hansa. While in command of INAs 300, he supervised the conversion and operational training of the crew on the Sea Harrier VSTOL fighter in the UK in 1983, and ferried the aircraft back to India. He has flown 2500 hours on a variety of single and multi-engined aircraft from the aircraft carrier and ashore.

As a young officer, Adm Prakash served afloat on IN ships Vikrant, Kirpan and Delhi. In subsequent years, he was privileged to command a variety of seagoing units which included INS Chatak (missile boat), INS Beas (training frigate) INS Vindhyagiri (ASW frigate), and the aircraft carrier INS Viraat. He commanded the Eastern Fleet during 1995-97.

On promotion to Rear Admiral in 1993, he served as ACNS (Air), and Assistant Chief of Personnel. In the rank of Vice Admiral, he has been Commandant, National Defence Academy (1997-99) and Chief of Personnel at Naval Headquarters (1999-2001). In Oct 2001, he was appointed the first Commander-in-Chief of the newly created Unified Andaman & Nicobar Command and served in that capacity till taking over as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command on 31 Dec 2002. After serving a brief tenure as Vice Chief, he took over as the 20th Chief of the Naval Staff on 31 Jul 04.

Admiral Arun Prakash is a graduate of the IAF Test Pilots School (1976), the Defence Services Staff College (1979), and the US Naval War College (1990).

As a young Lieutenant, during the 1971 war, Admiral Arun Prakash served with an IAF fighter-bomber squadron flying Hunters, and was awarded the Vir Chakra for gallantry in air action over West Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir. He is the recipient of the Vishisht Seva Medal (1985), the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (1991) and the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (2002) for distinguished services rendered.

The Admiral comes from a family with a strong military tradition; his two elder brothers, having both retired after distinguished careers in the Indian Army, and many nephews and nieces either serving in the Forces or married to Service officers. Adm and Mrs. Kumkum Prakash have one daughter who is married to a former IAF pilot.

Sources: Indian Navy Information Resource and Facilitation Centre