Sushil Kumar (admiral)

Admiral
Sushil Kumar Isaacs
PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, NM
Admiral Sushil Kumar Isaacs PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, NM
16th Chief of the Naval Staff
	In office; 30 December 1998 – 29 December 2001
President	K. R. Narayanan;
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee;
Preceded by	Vishnu Bhagwat
Succeeded by	Madhvendra Singh
Personal details
Born	Neyyoor, Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India
Died	27 November 2019; New Delhi
Awards	Param Vishisht Seva Medal; Uttam Yudh Seva Medal; Ati Vishisht Seva Medal; Nao Sena Medal
Military service
Allegiance	India
Branch/service	Indian Navy
Years of service	1961 - 2001
Rank	Admiral
Commands	Chief of the Naval Staff; Southern Naval Command; FORTAN
Battles/wars	Goa Liberation of 1961; Indo-Pakistan War of 1965; Indo-Pakistan War of 1971; Kargil War

Admiral Sushil Kumar Isaacs, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, NM (died 27 November 2019) was an Indian Navy Admiral who served as Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) of the Indian Navy. He was the Director of Naval Operations during Operation Pawan and Operation Cactus and was the CNS during the Kargil War.

Early life

A native of Neyyoor (Nagercoil), he joined the Indian Navy and was commissioned in 1961. He ceased to use his surname of Isaacs^[1] because it caused confusion with his brother, who shares the same initials and is also a naval officer.^[2] He was an alumni of The Bishop's School, Pune

Naval career

A specialist in hydrography and amphibious warfare,^[3] Kumar was also a qualified air warfare instructor. He was an alumnus of the National Defence College and was an instructor at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. His training abroad included a deputation to the Royal Navy on board HMS Dampier in 1963 and a course in amphibious warfare with the US Navy at Coronado, California, in 1976.^[4] He participated in the 1961 invasion of Goa and in both the Indo-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971. He was awarded the Nao Sena Medal for gallantry whilst in command of INS Ghorpad.

Kumar was promoted to substantive commander on 1 January 1977 and to captain on 1 January 1983.^[5]^[6] As Director of Naval Operations, he was decorated with the Uttam Yudh Seva Medal for his exceptional conduct in Operation Pawan and in Operation Cactus (Liberation of Maldives).

Flag rank

Kumar was promoted to substantive rear admiral on 6 July 1990.^[7] Kumar held operational commands and important posts such as the Vice Chief of Naval Staff, the Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area (FOMA), Commander of the Flotilla in Mumbai and Fortress Commander, Andaman and Nicobar Islands (FORTAN). He was the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command in Kochi, before being appointed the Chief of Naval Staff. Sushil Kumar assumed charge of the Indian Navy, as the 16th Chief of Naval Staff, on 30 December 1998. During his tenure as CNS, He was the highest-decorated serving officer in the Indian Navy, and he retired on 29 December 2001. He was a keen yachtsman and played polo on the international circuit, for which he had an international rating of 4+ goals.^[4]

Death

Kumar died on 27 November 2019 at the Indian Army Research and Referral Hospital, Delhi at the age of 79. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences upon this.^[8]^[9]

Awards and decorations

Param Vishisht Seva Medal	Uttam Yudh Seva Medal	Ati Vishisht Seva Medal	Nausena Medal
General Service Medal	Poorvi Star	Paschimi Star	Special Service Medal
Raksha Medal	Sangram Medal	Sainya Seva Medal	Videsh Seva Medal
50th Anniversary of Independence Medal	25th Anniversary of Independence Medal		30 Years Long Service Medal
20 Years Long Service Medal		9 Years Long Service Medal

References

^ Edit from family
^ Sawant, Gaurav C. (6 January 1999). "Indian Express: Harinder's appointment will be reconsidered: CNS". Indian Express. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
^ "Admiral Sushil Kumar". Indian Navy Information Resource and Facilitation Centre. 21 February 2005. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
^ ^a ^b "Admiral Sushil Kumar". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 30 August 2009.
^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)". The Gazette of India. 31 December 1977. p. 1400.
^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)". The Gazette of India. 23 July 1983. p. 1234.
^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)". The Gazette of India. 22 May 1993. p. 970.
^ "PM condoles demise of former Navy chief Sushil Kumar". Press Trust of India. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019 – via The Week.
^ Delhi, Special Correspondent New (28 November 2019). "Former Navy Chief Admiral Sushil Kumar dead". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 3 December 2019. {{cite news}}: |first= has generic name (help)

Military offices
Preceded by Ved Prakash Malik	Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee 1 October 2000 – 29 December 2001	Succeeded by Sundararajan Padmanabhan
Preceded by Vishnu Bhagwat	Chief of the Naval Staff 1998–29 December 2001	Succeeded by Madhvendra Singh
Preceded by Madhvendra Singh	Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command 1998-1998	Succeeded by R. N. Ganesh
Preceded by Kailash K Kohli	Vice Chief of the Naval Staff 1996-1998	Succeeded by P. J. Jacob
Preceded by Kailash K Kohli	Chief of Personnel 1995-1996	Succeeded by P. J. Jacob
Preceded by P. S. Das	Fortress Commander, Andaman and Nicobar Islands 1994-1995	Succeeded by R. N. Ganesh

[1] Edit from family

[2] Sawant, Gaurav C. (6 January 1999). "Indian Express: Harinder's appointment will be reconsidered: CNS". Indian Express. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013.

[3] "Admiral Sushil Kumar". Indian Navy Information Resource and Facilitation Centre. 21 February 2005. Retrieved 28 December 2014.

[bharat-rakshak1-4] "Admiral Sushil Kumar". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 30 August 2009.

[5] "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)". The Gazette of India. 31 December 1977. p. 1400.

[6] "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)". The Gazette of India. 23 July 1983. p. 1234.

[7] "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)". The Gazette of India. 22 May 1993. p. 970.

[8] "PM condoles demise of former Navy chief Sushil Kumar". Press Trust of India. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019 – via The Week.

[9] Delhi, Special Correspondent New (28 November 2019). "Former Navy Chief Admiral Sushil Kumar dead". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 3 December 2019. {{cite news}}: |first= has generic name (help)

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v t e Chief of Defence Staff of the Indian Armed Forces
Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (1947–2019)	Sir Rob Lockhart Sir Thomas Elmhirst Sir Edward Parry K. M. Cariappa Sir Charles Pizey Subroto Mukerjee Kodandera Subayya Thimayya Ram Dass Katari Aspy Engineer Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri Arjan Singh Adhar Kumar Chatterji Sam Manekshaw Gopal Gurunath Bewoor Om Prakash Mehra Sourendra Nath Kohli Tapishwar Narain Raina Hrushikesh Moolgavkar Jal Cursetji Om Prakash Malhotra Idris Hasan Latif Ronald Lynsdale Pereira K. V. Krishna Rao Dilbagh Singh Oscar Stanley Dawson Arun Shridhar Vaidya Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani Denis La Fontaine Jayant Ganpat Nadkarni Surinder Mehra Sunith Francis Rodrigues Laxminarayan Ramdas Bipin Chandra Joshi S. K. Kaul Vijai Singh Shekhawat Shankar Roychowdhury Satish Sareen Ved Prakash Malik Sushil Kumar Sundararajan Padmanabhan Madhvendra Singh Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy Nirmal Chander Vij Arun Prakash Shashindra Pal Tyagi Joginder Jaswant Singh Sureesh Mehta Deepak Kapoor Pradeep Vasant Naik Nirmal Kumar Verma Norman Anil Kumar Browne Bikram Singh Arup Raha Sunil Lanba Birender Singh Dhanoa Bipin Rawat
Chief of Defence Staff and Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (2020–2021)	Bipin Rawat
Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (2021–2022)	M. M. Naravane (acting)
Chief of Defence Staff and Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (2022–)	Anil Chauhan
(**Seconded from the British Armed Forces)

v t e Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy
Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy (1947–1948)	John Talbot Savignac Hall**
Chief of the Naval Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy (1948-1950)	John Talbot Savignac Hall Edward Parry
Chief of the Naval Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Indian Navy (1950-1955)	Edward Parry Sir Charles Thomas Mark Pizey
Chief of the Naval Staff (1955–present)	Sir Charles Thomas Mark Pizey Sir Stephen Hope Carlill Ram Dass Katari Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman Adhar Kumar Chatterji Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda Sourendra Nath Kohli Jal Cursetji Ronald Lynsdale Pereira Oscar Stanley Dawson Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani Jayant Ganpat Nadkarni Laxminarayan Ramdas Vijai Singh Shekhawat Vishnu Bhagwat Sushil Kumar Madhvendra Singh Arun Prakash Sureesh Mehta Nirmal Kumar Verma Devendra Kumar Joshi Robin K. Dhowan Sunil Lanba Karambir Singh R. Hari Kumar Dinesh Kumar Tripathi (incumbent)
**Seconded from the Royal Navy