Anil Kumar Chawla appointed as FOC-in-Chief of Southern Naval

Vice Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla has been appointed as the next Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Naval Command.

He is presently the Chief of Personnel at the Integrated Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence (Navy), at Delhi.

He would be taking over from Vice Admiral AR Karve, who would be superannuating on July 31, a Defence release said here today.

The Admiral is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, who was commissioned in the Navy on January 1, 1982.

Chawla, a Navigation & Direction specialist has commanded five ships in his illustrious career, including the now decommissioned aircraft carrier INS Viraat.

He has also been the Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet.

The admiral, as the Director General of Naval Operations oversaw "Op-Rahat," which involved the evacuation of Indian as well as foreign nationals from war-torn Yemen in April 2015, it said.

The officer is a graduate of the Royal Naval Staff College, Greenwich, UK, the College of Naval Warfare, and the National Defence College, New Delhi, the release added.