Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN) is the head of the
Andaman and Nicobar Command , the first and only
Tri-service
theater command of the
Indian Armed Forces , based at
Port Blair in the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands , a
Union Territory of
India .
The current CINCAN is
Air Marshal
Saju Balakrishnan
AVSM ,
VM who took command on 1 May 2023 as the 17th CINCAN.
History
The
Andaman and Nicobar Islands became a
Union territory of India in 1956. The first military unit on the islands was the
naval base
INS Jarawa which was commissioned in 1964.
[1] The base was commanded by a Resident Naval Officer (RNO). With the establishment of subsequent garrisons in the islands, the post was upgraded to Naval Officer-in-charge Andaman & Nicobar (NOIC A&N). The naval establishments were under the command of the
Eastern Naval Command during the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 . In October 1976, the operational control of all forces in the islands was given and the post was upgraded to Commodore, Andaman & Nicobar (COMAN). Shortly afterward, to signify jointness, all establishments came under the newly created Fortress Andaman & Nicobar. The appointment was re-designated to
Fortress Commander, Andaman and Nicobar Islands (FORTAN). In 1978,
INS Kardip was commissioned as a
Forward operating base .
Structure of the Andaman and Nicobar Command
In March 1981, FORTAN was upgraded to a
Two star appointment tenanted by a
Rear Admiral .
[3] In 1987, the post was further upgraded to a
three star appointment. In 1998, a 'Far East Naval Command' (FENC) was proposed, to be commanded by a Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Far East Naval Command.
With the operationalisation of the A & N Command as a unified theatre command in October 2001,
Vice Admiral
Arun Prakash ,
AVSM ,
VrC ,
VSM ,
ADC took over as the First Commander-in-Chief of the unified command.
[5]
Organisation
The CINCAN is a
Three-star rank officer from the three Services in rotation. The CINCAN reports directly to the
Chief of Defence Staff (India) (CDS) in
New Delhi . He is assisted by the Chief of Staff of the command, a
two-star officer and the commanders of each component (sea, land, air) -
one-star officers .
[6]
List of Commanders
The following is a list of Commanders-in-Chief of the A&N command.
No
Name
Branch
Appointment Date
Left Office
References
1
Vice Admiral
Arun Prakash
AVSM ,
VrC ,
VSM
Indian Navy
8 October 2001
30 December 2002
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
2
Vice Admiral O. P. Bansal
AVSM
15 January 2003
30 September 2003
[12]
[13]
3
Lieutenant General Bhupender Singh Thakur
AVSM
Indian Army
1 October 2003
13 January 2005
[14]
[15]
4
Lieutenant General Aditya Singh
AVSM
& bar
14 January 2005
27 February 2006
[16]
[17]
5
Vice Admiral Arun Kumar Singh
PVSM ,
AVSM ,
NM
Indian Navy
28 February 2006
25 October 2006
[18]
[19]
6
Air Marshal Packiam Paul Rajkumar
AVSM
Indian Air Force
2 December 2006
31 December 2007
[20]
[21]
[22]
7
Air Marshal
Sadasivan Radhakrishnan
AVSM
1 January 2008
30 September 2008
[23]
[24]
8
Vice Admiral
Vijay Shankar
AVSM
Indian Navy
30 September 2008
30 September 2009
[25]
9
Vice Admiral
Devendra Kumar Joshi
AVSM ,
YSM ,
NM ,
VSM
30 September 2009
28 December 2010
[26]
10
Lieutenant General N C Marwah
AVSM
Indian Army
1 January 2011
31 October 2012
[27]
[28]
11
Air Marshal Pramon Kumar Roy
AVSM ,
VM ,
VSM
Indian Air Force
2 November 2012
30 June 2014
[29]
12
Vice Admiral
Pradeep Kumar Chatterjee
AVSM ,
NM
Indian Navy
1 July 2014
28 February 2016
[30]
13
Vice Admiral
Bimal Verma
AVSM
29 February 2016
1 December 2019
[31]
14
Lieutenant General
Podali Shankar Rajeshwar
PVSM ,
AVSM ,
VSM
Indian Army
1 December 2019
31 May 2020
[32]
[33]
15
Lieutenant General
Manoj Pande
AVSM ,
VSM
1 June 2020
31 May 2021
[34]
16
Lieutenant General
Ajai Singh
PVSM ,
AVSM
1 June 2021
30 April 2023
[35]
17
Air Marshal
Saju Balakrishnan
AVSM ,
VM
Indian Air Force
1 May 2023
Incumbent
[36]
List of CINCAN by branches of service
Army - 6
Navy - 7
Air Force - 4
See also
References
^ Vice Admiral
Gulab Mohanlal Hiranandani . "Chapter 20 - Maintenance, Repair And Refit Facilities".
Transition to Triumph . Indian Navy. Retrieved 9 January 2012 .
^
"h5" . www.sainiksamachar.nic.in .
^
"ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR COMMAND BEING OPERATIONALISED" (PDF) .
^
"Press Information Bureau" . Pib.and.nic.in. Archived from
the original on 21 April 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2010 .
^
"VICE ADMIRAL ARUN PRAKASH TAKES OVER THE FIRST UNIFIED COMMAND" (PDF) . pibarchive.nic.in .
^
"Arun Prakash to be new naval chief – Rediff.com India News" . www.rediff.com .
Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^
"Tri-service integrated command in place" .
The Hindu . 30 September 2001. Archived from
the original on 28 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^
"Vice Admiral Arun Prakash,PVSM,AVSM,VrC,VSM,ADC will be the new Naval Chief" . pib.nic.in .
Archived from the original on 25 October 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^
"Air Marshal Asthana to head Strategic Forces Command – Times of India" . The Times of India .
Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^
"NCC camp in Port Blair" .
The Hindu . 2 March 2003. Retrieved 27 December 2017 . [
dead link ]
^
"English Releases" .
Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^
"Lt Gen B S Thakur chief of tri-service command" . www.rediff.com .
Archived from the original on 25 June 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^ Darpan, Pratiyogita (March 2005).
Competition Science Vision . Pratiyogita Darpan.
^
"Lt Gen Aditya Singh takes over charge of Southern Command" . Zee News . 1 March 2006.
Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^
"New Flag Appointments in the Navy" . pib.nic.in .
Archived from the original on 25 October 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^
"Vice Admiral A K Singh new Eastern Naval Command chief" . Zee News . 26 October 2006.
Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^
"Service Record for Air Marshal Packiam Paul Rajkumar 12018 F(P) at Bharat Rakshak.com" . Bharat Rakshak .
Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^
"Air Marshal Rajkumar to head Tri-Service Command" . Zee News . 2 December 2006.
Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^
"English Releases" . Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^
"Air Marshal S Radhakrishnan takes charge as CINCAN" . OneIndia .
Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^
"Air Marshal Radhakrishan hands over reigns of ANC" . OneIndia .
Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^
"Vice Admiral Vijay Shankar to take over as C-in-C of Andaman and Nicobar" . OneIndia .
Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^
"D.K. Joshi, next Navy chief" . The Hindu . 6 June 2012.
ISSN
0971-751X . Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^
"Andaman And Nicobar Command, Pursuing Perfection Through Jointness" . www.andamanchronicle.net . Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^
"Lt Gen NC Marwah relinquishes command of ANC" . Zee News . 1 November 2012.
Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^ Giles, Denis.
"CINCAN Air Marshal PK Roy Bids Adieu" . www.andamanchronicle.net .
Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^
"Vice Admiral PK Chatterjee is the Commander in Chief Andaman and Nicobar Command" . SP's Naval Forces .
Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^
"Vice Admiral Bimal Verma AVSM takes over as Commander-in-Chief Andaman & Nicobar Command" . pib.nic.in .
Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017 .
^
"Lt Gen P S Rajeshwar takes over as C-n-C of Andaman & Nicobar Command" . 2 December 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019 .
^ @SpokespersonMoD (2 December 2019).
"Lt Gen P S Rajeshwar takes over as C-n-C of Andaman & Nicobar Command" (
Tweet ) – via
Twitter .
^
"Lieutenant General Manoj Pande takes over as Commander-In-Chief of Andaman & Nicobar Command Tomorrow;" . pib.gov.in .
^
"India's crucial Eastern Army Command, Andaman-Nicobar Command get new chiefs tomorrow" . ThePrint . 31 May 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2021 .
^ @airnews_pb (1 May 2023).
"Air Marshal Saju Balakrishnan takes over as CINCAN" (
Tweet ) – via
Twitter .
Bibliography
Singh, Anup (2018), Blue Waters Ahoy!, The Indian Navy 2001-2010 , HarperCollins Publishers India,
ISBN
978-93-5302-552-6
Mukherjee, Anit; Mohan, C. Raja (2015), India's Naval Strategy and Asian Security , Routledge,
ISBN
978-1-317-36133-6
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