Vice Admiral Surinder Pal Singh Cheema

PVSM Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (IAST: ) is a military award of India. It was constituted in 1960 and since then it is awarded in recognition to peace-time service of the most exceptional order and may be awarded posthumously. All ranks of the ...

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 Di ...

, NM is a former Flag Officer in the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

. He last served as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

and

Southern Naval Command The Southern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy. It has its headquarters in Kochi, Kerala at INS Venduruthy. It is the Training Command of the Indian Navy. The Command is commanded by a Three Star Fla ...

s. He also served as the Commander-in-Chief of

Strategic Forces Command The Strategic Forces Command (SFC), sometimes called Strategic Nuclear Command, forms part of India's Nuclear Command Authority (NCA). It is responsible for the management and administration of the country's tactical and strategic nuclear wea ...

and the

Chief of Integrated Defence Staff The Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) is the head of the Integrated Defence Staff which acts as the point organisation for jointmanship in the Ministry of Defence. In November 2019, government sou ...

to the

Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee The Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (Chairman COSC) is a position in the Indian Armed Forces, usually held by a four-star officer serving as the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Indian military. The position holder chairs the Chiefs of ...

. He retired from the service on 31 January 2016, after almost four decades of service.

Early life and education

Cheema attended the

Sainik School, Kunjpura Sainik School, Kunjpura in the state of Haryana, one of the first five Sainik Schools (military school) established in 1961 in India, is jointly operated by the Government of Haryana state and Government of India, GoI's Ministry of Defence (Indi ...

. He then graduated from the

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services i.e. the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force train together before they go on ...

Khadakwasla Khadakwasla Dam is a dam on the Mutha River from the centre of the city of Pune in Maharashtra, India. The dam created a reservoir known as Khadakwasla Lake which is the main source of water for Pune and its suburbs. In the vicinity of Khada ...

and was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 1 January 1977.

Military career

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar addressing the members of media at the commissioning of INS Vajrkosh

Cheema is a missile and gunnery specialist. He was the Commissioning

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) 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 given wide latit ...

of the

Missile boat A missile boat or missile cutter is a small, fast warship armed with anti-ship missiles. Being smaller than other warships such as destroyers and frigates, missile boats are popular with nations interested in forming a navy at lower cost. They ...

and commanded the missile corvette and the stealth frigate . He served as the 14th

of the aircraft carrier . He also headed the naval base INS Mandovi. He attended the

Defence Services Staff College The Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) is a defence service training institution of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. It trains officers of all three services of the Indian Armed Forces – ( Indian Military Service, Indian Nav ...

(DSSC),

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by m ...

where he was awarded the Lentaigne and Scudder Medals (for best dissertation and being "first in overall order of merit"). He also attended the College of Naval Warfare (CNW),

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

Flag Rank

As a

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star " admiral" rank. It is often rega ...

, Cheema commanded the

Western Fleet The Red Sea Fleet Command or officially Western Fleet (WF), also called ''" West Coast Fleet ",'' is a regional naval fleet and one of the two main formations of the Saudi Arabian Navy, with headquarters at Royal Naval Base at Jeddah, Western P ...

from 2008 to 2009. In his staff appointments, he served as the Controller Personnel Services at the Integrated Headquarters. He served as the Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (DCIDS) for Perspective Planning and Force Development (PP&FD) and for DOT in two different assignments. Apart from these, he served as the Chief of the Staff of

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 ...

. After promotion to the rank of Vice Admiral, he served in four different appointments as a Commander-in-Chief since being promoted to C-in-C grade on 31 August 2012. He served as the FOC-in-C of

from 2014 to 2015; Commander-in-Chief of the

;

Chief Of Integrated Defence Staff The Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) is the head of the Integrated Defence Staff which acts as the point organisation for jointmanship in the Ministry of Defence. In November 2019, government sou ...

to the

; and as lastly as the FOC-in-C of

. He also served as the

Commandant of Indian Naval Academy The Commandant of the Indian Naval Academy is the head and in-charge of all the functioning of the Indian Naval Academy. The Commandant of the Academy is a Three-star rank officer holding the rank of Vice Admiral. He is supported by the Deputy ...

. He retired on 31 January 2016, after four decades of service; Vice Admiral

Sunil Lanba Sunil (सुनील) is a first name for males, often found in the South Asian community. The Sanskrit word ' means "dark", "very blue", and is also an epithet of Krishna. Notable people * Sunil (actor), Indian Telugu film actor * Sunil (d ...

succeeded him as FOC-in-C of Western Naval Command.

Awards and decorations

Gallery

File:Admiral RK Dhowan being congratulated by SPS Cheema after taking over as new Chief of Naval Staff.JPG, Admiral RK Dhowan being congratulated by SPS Cheema after taking over as new Chief of Naval Staff File:Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral RK Dhowan and other dignitaries at the undocking of INS Kalvari.JPG, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral RK Dhowan and other dignitaries at the undocking of INS ''Kalvari'' File:Exchange of baton between Vice Admiral SPS Cheema and Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba.jpeg, Exchange of the baton between Vice Admiral SPS Cheema and Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba File:Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Vice Admiral SPS Cheema on board FNS Charles De Gaulle.jpg, Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Vice Admiral SPS Cheema onboard FNS ''Charles De Gaulle'' File:Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, Vice Admiral SPS Cheema, and Indian and French naval personnel on board aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.jpg, Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, Vice Admiral SPS Cheema, and Indian and French naval personnel onboard aircraft carrier ''Charles de Gaulle'' File:Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel on board INS Kolkata.jpg, Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel onboard INS ''Kolkata'' File:Maharashtra Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao during his visit to INS Shishumar.jpg, C. Vidyasagar Rao, Governor of Maharashtra, during his visit to INS ''Shishumar''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheema, Surinder Pal Singh Indian Navy admirals Flag Officers Commanding Western Fleet Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal Commandants of the Indian Naval Academy Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Nau Sena Medal Defence Services Staff College alumni Naval War College, Goa alumni