Vice admiral NK Verma to be next chief of naval staff
09 Jun 2009
Current flag officer commanding-in-chief (FOC-in-C), Eastern Naval Command, vice admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma, PVSM, AVSM, ADC, has been appointed as the next chief of the naval staff by the Government of India. He will assume command on 31 August 2009, when present chief of the naval staff, Admiral Sureesh Mehta retires from service.
Born on 14 November 1950, Vice Admiral Verma was commissioned on 1 July 1970 into the executive branch of the Indian Navy. During his long and distinguished service spanning nearly 39 years, he has served in a variety of command, staff and instructional appointments.
Vice admiral Verma's sea command includes Leander class frigate ''Udaigiri'', guided missile destroyer ''Ranvir'' and the aircraft carrier ''Viraat''.
Before taking over as FOC-in-C, Eastern Naval Command, he was vice chief of naval staff at naval headquarters.
Vice admiral Verma is an alumnus of Royal Naval Staff College, UK and Naval War College, USA. He has instructional experience at National Defence College as senior directing staff and at Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. He also commanded the Naval Academy at Goa.
He and his wife Madhulika have two sons.
