Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

Murlidhar Sadashiv Pawar,

PVSM Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of India. It is the highest peacetime medal of the Indian Armed Forces, and is awarded for "dist ...

AVSM Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM, ) is a military award of India given to recognize "distinguished service of an exceptional order" to all ranks of the armed forces. The award is a peacetime equivalent of Uttam Yuddh Seva Medal, which is a Wartime ...

, VSM is a retired officer of the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

. He served as the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. He assumed office from Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar on 30 January 2019 and served till 31 May 2021 till his retirement. He is succeeded by

Ravneet Singh. Prior to this appointment, he served as chief of staff,

Eastern Naval Command The Eastern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The command is responsible for the all naval forces in the Bay of Bengal and parts of the Indian Ocea ...

Education

He completed his primary education at

Sainik School The Sainik Schools () are a system of Military high schools in India established and managed by the Sainik Schools Society () under Ministry of Defence (MoD). They were conceived in 1961 by V. K. Krishna Menon, the then Defence Minister of Indi ...

, Korukonda. Pawar did his undergraduate studies at

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces. Here, cadets of the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force train together before they go on to their respective service a ...

, Khadakvasla, where he was part of the 60th graduating class. At graduation, he was adjudged ‘Best all round Cadet’ during his Naval training and subsequently completed the year long Sub-Lieutenant Technical Course standing first overall. He attended the Staff Course at the

Royal Naval Staff College The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equi ...

, UK; where he was awarded the prestigious ‘Herbert Lott Prize’. He also attended College of Naval Warfare,

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

and the National Defence College, New Delhi.

Career

Pawar joined the Indian Navy on 1 July 82, specializing in Navigation and Direction. His sea commands include the missile boat INS Nashak, the corvette INS Kuthar and the guided missile frigate

INS Talwar The following ships of the Indian Navy have been named INS ''Talwar'': * was a Type 12, commissioned in 1959, which served in the Portuguese-Indian War The Annexation of Goa was the process in which the Republic of India annexed the Por ...

Flag rank

On promotion to the Flag rank, he was appointed as Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) at

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

, which is part of the Southern Naval Command. He then served as the Chief of Staff,

Southern Naval Command The Southern Naval Command is one of the three, command-level formations of the Indian Navy. Southern Naval Command is the largest naval command in India and it has its headquarters in Kochi, Kerala at INS Venduruthy. It is the Training Comman ...

. He was then appointed as the last Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra and Gujarat Naval Area where he was responsible for the security of the two important maritime states and commanded the largest fighting formation of the Indian Navy in terms of number of units. The

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

and

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

Naval Areas were then split into two and he was assigned as the first

Flag Officer Commanding Gujarat Naval Area Flag Officer Commanding Gujarat, Daman & Diu Naval Area (FOGNA) is a senior appointment in the Indian Navy. One of the five Area Commanders of the Indian Navy, the FOGNA is a two star admiral holding the rank of Rear Admiral. The FOGNA is responsi ...

. On promotion to vice admiral on 1 December 2015, he was appointed as the

Director General Project Seabird The Director General of Project Seabird (DG Seabird) is a senior appointment in the Indian Navy with the rank of Vice Admiral. The DG heads the Seabird Project with a charter to oversee the largest defence infrastructure project progressing at the ...

– which was one of the largest defence infrastructure project in India which led to the creation of

INS Kadamba INS ''Kadamba'' or Naval Base Karwar is an Indian Navy base located near Karwar in Karnataka. The base, which was commissioned on 31 May 2005, is being developed under the codename, Project Seabird. The Phase I of the project was completed i ...

. He then took over as the Chief of Staff at HQ

Personal

An accomplished long-distance runner, the Admiral is married to Mrs Meena Pawar and they have two children.

Honors and awards

Pawar was awarded the

Param Vishisht Seva Medal Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of India. It is the highest peacetime medal of the Indian Armed Forces, and is awarded for "dist ...

(PVSM) in Jan 2021,

Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM, ) is a military award of India given to recognize "distinguished service of an exceptional order" to all ranks of the armed forces. The award is a peacetime equivalent of Uttam Yuddh Seva Medal, which is a Wartime D ...

(AVSM) in May 2016 and

Vishisht Seva Medal The Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM, ) is a decoration of the Indian Armed Forces. It is awarded to recognize "distinguished service of a high order" to all ranks of the Indian Armed Forces. From 1980, the Yudh Seva Medal was introduced to recognize ex ...

(VSM) in January 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadashiv Pawar, Murlidhar Indian Navy vice admirals Deputy chiefs of Naval Staff (India) Flag Officers Sea Training National Defense University alumni National Defence Academy (India) alumni Living people Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal Year of birth missing (living people) National Defence College, India alumni Recipients of the Vishisht Seva Medal Graduates of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich Flag Officers Commanding Gujarat Naval Area Directors General Project Seabird Flag Officers Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area