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 ...

Tarun Sobti,

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 serving Flag officer 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 ...

. He currently serves as the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. He last served 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 ...

. He earlier served as the

Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF) is the title of the Indian Navy Officer who commands the Eastern Fleet, headquartered in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The FOCEF is a Two Star Officer holding the rank of Rear Admiral. The current FO ...

and as the Deputy Commandant and Chief Instructor at the

Indian Naval Academy The Indian Naval Academy (INA or INA Ezhimala) is the Defense (military), defence service training establishment for officer cadre of the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard, located in Ezhimala, Kannur district, Kerala. Situated between Ez ...

from March 2019 to January 2021. He was the

commissioning Commissioning is a process or service provided to validate the completeness and accuracy of a project or venture. It may refer more specifically to: * Project commissioning, a process of assuring that all components of a facility are designed, in ...

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 Kolkata-class

guided missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers which have a pr ...

Early life and education

Sobti was born in an army family. His father was a

general officer A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

in the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

, retiring as a Major General. His mother was a teacher and his elder brother also joined the Army, retiring in 2017. Sobti attended the

Delhi Public School, Mathura Road Delhi Public School situated on Mathura Road in New Delhi, India, is a private co-educational day and boarding school with 6500+ students. It is run by the Delhi Public School Society and is a member of the Indian Public School Conference. The ...

. After his schooling, he joined and graduated from the

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 ...

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

in 1986. He was awarded the President's Gold Medal, for standing first in overall order of merit.

Naval career

Sobti was commissioned into the

on 1 July 1988. He is a specialist in Navigation and direction. During the specialisation course, he stood first and was adjudged the Best all-round trainee. He attended the Collège Interarmées de Défense in Paris and the College of Naval Warfare (CNW) in Mumbai. During the Naval Higher Command Course at the CNW, he was awarded the CNS Gold Medal for Best Op Paper. He has served as the navigating officer of the

Khukri-class corvette The ''Khukri''-class corvette , also known as Project 25, is a class of corvettes intended to replace the ageing Petya II-class corvettes of the Indian Navy. The first two were ordered in December 1983 and the remaining in 1985. Around 65% o ...

and was part of the commissioning crew of the Delhi-class

Guided missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers which have a pr ...

as its navigating officer. He later served as the direction officer of the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

and the

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer ...

of the guided missile destroyer . Sobti has commanded the Veer-class missile vessel , and the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very comple ...

of the Kora-class corvette . In August 2014, the

of the indigenously-built Kolkata-class

s was commissioned by the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

in Mumbai. Sobti was the commissioning

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 ship. Sobti, in his staff appointments, has served as the Joint Director of Staff Requirements and Joint Director of Personnel at Naval headquarters. He also served as the Captain Work-Up at Local Work-Up Team (East). The LWT (East) is under the operational control of Flag Officer Sea Training and administrative control of the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief

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 ...

. As a

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 ' ...

, he served as the

Naval attaché A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations ...

at the

Embassy of India in Moscow The Republic of India has one of the largest diplomatic networks, reflecting its links in the world and particularly in neighbouring regions: Central Asia, the Middle East, East Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia, and the rest of the Indian subcontin ...

Flag rank

On promotion to Flag Rank, in March 2019, Sobti took over as the Deputy Commandant and Chief Instructor at the

, Ezhimala. After a 21 month stint as Deputy Commandant, he handed over to Rear Admiral A. N. Pramod in January 2021. For this stint, Sobti was awarded 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 ...

on 26 January 2020. On 23 February 2021, he assumed the office of the

, taking over from

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 ...

Sanjay Vatsayan Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan, AVSM, NM is a serving Flag officer in the Indian Navy. He currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Operations). He previously served as the Chief of Staff, Eastern Naval Command, as the Dep ...

who commanded the fleet from 2020 to 2021. Under his command, the

Eastern Fleet Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

, executed Operation Samudra Setu II and Operation Sagar. These operations were aimed at the transfer of medical oxygen and provided humanitarian assistance to friendly foreign countries respectively. The fleet also participated in the maritime exercise Malabar 21 in Western Pacific off Guam. For his command of the Eastern fleet, he was awarded the

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 ...

on 26 January 2022. On promotion to the rank of

, on 24 December 2021, Sobti took over as the

, from Vice Admiral Puneet Kumar Bahl. He was succeeded by Vice Admiral Rajesh Dhankhar as the DG of the project. On 1 October 2023, Sobti was appointed Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff and took over Vice Admiral

Sanjay Mahindru Vice Admiral Sanjay Mahindru, PVSM, AVSM, NM is a former flag officer in the Indian Navy. He last served as the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff, from 31 Mar 2022 to 30 September 2023. Prior to this, he served as the Flag Officer Commanding Mah ...

who retired.

Awards and decorations

Personal life

Sobti is married to Shagun Sobti, a teacher. The couple have a daughter, Mallika.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sobti, Tarun Indian Navy vice admirals Flag Officers Commanding Eastern Fleet National Defence Academy (India) alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Vishisht Seva Medal Naval attachés for India Deputy Commandants of the Indian Naval Academy Directors General Project Seabird