Surgeon Vice Admiral Sheila Samanta Mathai, NM, VSM is a former

flag officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which that officer exercises command. Different countries use the term "flag officer" in different ways: * ...

in 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 ...

. She last served as the Director General (Organisation & Personnel) of the

Armed Forces Medical Services The Armed Force Medical Services (AFMS) is an inter-services organisation under the Ministry of Defence, covering the Indian Armed Forces. It came into existence in 1948. The current Director General Armed Forces Medical Services is Surg Vice Adm ...

. She is the fourth woman in the

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the armed forces, military forces of the India, Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Ar ...

to be promoted to a

three-star rank Military star ranking is military terminology, used in mainly English speaking countries, to describe general and flag officers. Within NATO's armed forces, the stars are equal to OF-6–10. Star ranking One-star A one-star rank is usual ...

, after Surgeon Vice Admiral Punita Arora, Air Marshal Padma Bandopadhyay and Lieutenant General Madhuri Kanitkar. She is currently the head of the department of neonatology in Kasturba Medical College, Manipal.

Early life and education

Mathai was born into an Armed Forces family. Her father was a surgeon in the

Army Medical Corps A medical corps is generally a military branch or officer corps responsible for medical care for serving military personnel. Such officers are typically military physicians. List of medical corps The following organizations are examples of med ...

. She attended the Loreto Schools, Kolkata. She lost her parents early and joined the

Armed Forces Medical College upright=1.1, AFMC main building The Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) is a leading medical school in Pune, India, in the state of Maharashtra. The college is managed by the Indian Armed Forces. Established in May 1948 as a post-graduate t ...

, Pune (AFMC), her father's alma mater. At AFMC, she completed her

MBBS A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...

and was awarded the Kalinga Trophy for the best outgoing student.

Military career

Mathai was commissioned in the Indian Navy in 1985. She subsequently did her post-graduation, earning the

Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

degree in

Pediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, Adolescence, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many o ...

from the

University of Mumbai University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

. She then earned a DM degree in

Neonatology Neonatology is a subspecialty of pediatrics that consists of the medical care of newborn infants, especially the ill or premature newborn. It is a hospital-based specialty and is usually practised in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Th ...

, also from the University of Mumbai. She was awarded a Commonwealth Visiting Fellowship to the UK in Neonatology in 2003, and was conferred a

Fellowship A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

of the

Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research The Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to "support the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) as it promotes international health p ...

(FAIMER) in 2014. Mathai has set up the paediatric departments at INHS Dhanvantari in

Port Blair Port Blair (), officially named Sri Vijaya Puram, is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headqu ...

and at the INHS Jeevanti in Goa. She has also set up the neonatal intensive care units in service and cantonment hospitals in Mumbai and Pune. As a Surgeon

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

, she served as the

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

and Head of Department of Paediatrics at the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune. She subsequently served as the Director & Dean of the Institute of Naval Medicine in Mumbai, an institute headed by her husband in the past.

Flag rank

Mathai was promoted to the rank of

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

and appointed Command Medical Officer,

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 ...

. She was subsequently appointed

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of the naval hospital INHS Asvini in Mumbai. She was in command of the naval hospital during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On 31 January 2021, she relinquished command of ''Asvini'', handing over to Rear Admiral Arti Sarin, in a rare event of a change of command between two women flag officers. On 1 February, she took over as the Command Medical Officer of the

Western Naval Command The Western Naval Command is one of the three command–level formations of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. As the senior–most of the three formations, the command is responsible for the all naval forces in the A ...

. On 26 August 2021, she was promoted to the rank of Surgeon Vice Admiral, only the fourth woman to be promoted to

in the

. She assumed the post of Director General (Organisation and Personnel) of the

under the Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS).

Personal life

Mathai is married to an officer of the Indian Navy, Surgeon Commodore K. I. Mathai, VSM, a neurosurgeon who served in the navy for 35 years and is now retired. The couple have a daughter.

Awards and decorations

Mathai has been awarded the Chief of the Naval Staff Commendation Card in 1993, the

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 ...

in 2012, and the

Nao Sena Medal Nau Sena Medal (also spelt ''Nao Sena Medal'', lit. ''Navy Medal'') is a gallantry award for servicemen in the Indian Navy. History The Nau Sena Medal was instituted on 26 January 1960 by the Government of India, with the approval of the Presid ...

in 2021.

References