Vice Admiral Raman P Suthan, AVSM VSM
appointed Foc-in-C East
Vice Admiral Raman P Suthan, AVSM VSM will assume
command of the premiere Eastern Naval Command, one of
the two operational commands of the Indian Navy on 30
Apr 07. Vadm Suthan takes over from Vice Admiral A K
Singh, who retires that day.
The Eastern seaboard has gained prominence in the
recent past and this is witnessed by the increasing
engagement with immediate regional neighbours like
Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore,
Thailand and other states of South East Asia. The
Eastern Fleet is on overseas deployment and the ships
have just completed a visit to China and Japan to
exercise with their ships. All this is in consonance
with the 'Look East Policy' of our country. Also, the
coming days would see Indian Navy exercising with US
Fleet in the Bay of Bengal.
Admiral Suthan takes over the Eastern Naval command
after two years stint in Delhi. He took over his
present appointment as Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff
on 24 Jul 06 when "Operation - Sukoon" (evacuation of
civilians) from Beirut to Larnaca was in full swing.
The prompt response by the Indian Navy has won
admiration, the world over.
The Admiral was born on 14 Aug 1949. He is an
alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasala
and was commissioned in the Indian Navy in July 1970.
He saw action early in life as the Navigating Officer
of INS Kavaratti, which took active part in Eastern
Fleet operations off erstwhile East Pakistan in 1971.
After specialisation in Navigation and Direction, he
has held various staff, instructional, operational and
command appointments. The Flag Officer is a graduate
of the prestigious Defence Services Staff College,
Wellington. During his long and illustrious career,
Vice Admiral Raman P Suthan has commanded five ships
of different size and capabilities. His other
important assignment at sea includes Fleet Navigation
Officer of Eastern Fleet. As Flag Officer, he has been
Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet, one of the two
sword arms of the Navy.
Ashore, his appointments include Chief Staff Officer
(Training) in Southern Naval Command in 1991-92 and
Defence Advisor at High Commission of India, Singapore
from 1993-96. The Flag Officer has been widely
associated with the personnel policies of the Navy,
having held the appointments of the Director of
Personnel, Assistant Chief of Personnel (Human
Resources Development) and Controller Personnel
Services at Naval Headquarters for over four years. He
has had the unique distinction of being Chief of Staff
of two Commands, Southern and Eastern Naval Command
and hence had a wide range of administrative, training
and operational experience. It was during his
appointment as Chief of Staff, Eastern Naval Command
that the successful and highly acclaimed post-tsunami
relief operations on the Eastern seaboard were
undertaken.
VAdm Raman P Suthan is a recipient of Ati Vishist
Seva Medal (AVSM) and Vishist Seva Medal (VSM) for his
highly distinguished service.
VG/AK