Commander-in-Chief,
Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN)
Incumbent
Air Marshal Saju Balakrishnan AVSM VM
since 1 May 2023
AbbreviationCINCAN
Reports toChief of the Defence Staff
SeatPort Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands
AppointerAppointments Committee of the Cabinet
PrecursorFortress Commander, Andaman and Nicobar Islands (FORTAN)
Formation2001
First holderVice Admiral Arun Prakash
AVSM VrC VSM ADC
DeputyChief of Staff
WebsiteOfficial Website

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).[2] 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.[4]

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.[7]

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

  1. ↑ Vice Admiral Gulab Mohanlal Hiranandani. "Chapter 20 - Maintenance, Repair And Refit Facilities". Transition to Triumph. Indian Navy. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  2. ↑ Singh 2018, p. 299.
  3. ↑ "h5". www.sainiksamachar.nic.in.
  4. ↑ Singh 2018, p. 300.
  5. ↑ "ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR COMMAND BEING OPERATIONALISED" (PDF).
  6. ↑ "Press Information Bureau". Pib.and.nic.in. Archived from the original on 21 April 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  7. ↑ Mukherjee & Mohan 2015.
  8. ↑ "VICE ADMIRAL ARUN PRAKASH TAKES OVER THE FIRST UNIFIED COMMAND" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in.
  9. ↑ "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.
  10. ↑ "Tri-service integrated command in place". The Hindu. 30 September 2001. Archived from the original on 28 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  11. ↑ "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.
  12. ↑ "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.
  13. ↑ "NCC camp in Port Blair". The Hindu. 2 March 2003. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  14. ↑ "English Releases". Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  15. ↑ "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.
  16. ↑ Darpan, Pratiyogita (March 2005). Competition Science Vision. Pratiyogita Darpan.
  17. ↑ "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.
  18. ↑ "New Flag Appointments in the Navy". pib.nic.in. Archived from the original on 25 October 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  19. ↑ "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.
  20. ↑ "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.
  21. ↑ "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.
  22. ↑ "English Releases". Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  23. ↑ "Air Marshal S Radhakrishnan takes charge as CINCAN". OneIndia. Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  24. ↑ "Air Marshal Radhakrishan hands over reigns of ANC". OneIndia. Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  25. ↑ "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.
  26. ↑ "D.K. Joshi, next Navy chief". The Hindu. 6 June 2012. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  27. ↑ "Andaman And Nicobar Command, Pursuing Perfection Through Jointness". www.andamanchronicle.net. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  28. ↑ "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.
  29. ↑ Giles, Denis. "CINCAN Air Marshal PK Roy Bids Adieu". www.andamanchronicle.net. Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  30. ↑ "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.
  31. ↑ "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.
  32. ↑ "Lt Gen P S Rajeshwar takes over as C-n-C of Andaman & Nicobar Command". 2 December 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  33. ↑ @SpokespersonMoD (2 December 2019). "Lt Gen P S Rajeshwar takes over as C-n-C of Andaman & Nicobar Command" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  34. ↑ "Lieutenant General Manoj Pande takes over as Commander-In-Chief of Andaman & Nicobar Command Tomorrow;". pib.gov.in.
  35. ↑ "India's crucial Eastern Army Command, Andaman-Nicobar Command get new chiefs tomorrow". ThePrint. 31 May 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  36. ↑ @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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