Rear Admiral Sudhir Pillai takes over as Chief Of Staff, Andaman and Nicobar Command

Port Blair, May 29: Rear Admiral Sudhir Pillai, Nau Sena Medal, took over as the 9th Chief of Staff (COS), Andaman & Nicobar Command from Rear Admiral Karambir Singh, who is proceeding to Western Naval Command as the Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra and Gujarat Area (FOMAG).

Rear Admiral Sudhir Pillai, an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla was commissioned into the Navy in 1980. A specialist Naval Aviator, the Admiral has a flying experience of over 3000 hours on diverse Naval aircraft and is a Qualified Flying Instructor.

Important assignments of the Admiral at sea include Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Ship Ganga Devi, Indian Naval Ships Udaygiri, Ranjit and Mysore. He has also commanded the Naval Air Station, INS Garuda at Kochi. The Admiral has served on the faculty of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. He is a graduate of the Naval Higher Command Course, the National Defence College and is a Fellow of the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies, USA. Prior to taking over the present assignment, the Admiral was the Flag Officer Commanding Goa Naval Area (FOGA) and Flag Officer Naval Aviation (FONA).

This would be the third tenure of the Admiral at Port Blair having earlier been the Commissioning crew of INS Utkrosh in 1985 and when in Command of CGS Ganga Devi in 1994.