Vijai Singh Shekhawat

Admiral
V S Shekhawat
PVSM, AVSM, VrC, ADC
Admiral V S Shekhawat PVSM, AVSM, VrC, ADC
14th Chief of the Naval Staff
	In office; 1 October 1993 – 1 October 1996
President	Shankar Dayal Sharma
Prime Minister	P. V. Narasimha Rao; Atal Bihari Vajpayee; H. D. Deve Gowda
Preceded by	Laxminarayan Ramdas
Succeeded by	Vishnu Bhagwat
Personal details
Born	1 October 1936; chittosa, jhunjhunu Rajasthan
Spouse	Binu Shekhawat
Awards	Param Vishist Seva Medal; Ati Vishist Seva Medal; Vir Chakra
Nickname	"VP"
Military service
Allegiance	India
Branch/service	Indian Navy
Years of service	1956–1996
Rank	Admiral
Commands	Eastern Navy; Western Fleet; INS Himgiri; INS Karanj; INS Kalvari
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

Admiral Vijai Singh Shekhawat, PVSM, AVSM, VrC, ADC is a former Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy. He was 14th Chief of Naval Staff and served as Navy Chief from 30 September 1993 to 30 September 1996.^[1] Admiral Shekhawat is a Patron of the General K.S. Thimayya Memorial Trust.

Early life and education

Shekhawat attended the St. Joseph's Academy and Colonel Brown Cambridge School in Dehradun, Bishop Cotton Boys' School in Bangalore, and St Joseph's College in Darjeeling. He later attended the National Defence Academy in Maharashtra and the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. Shekhawat was selected for the Joint Services Wing of the National Defence Academy (NDA) in 1952, and was awarded the President's Gold Medal for the best all-round cadet in December 1953. He was commissioned in 1956.^[2]

Naval career

Early career

Shekhawat received submarine training in the UK from 1963–1964 and the USSR from 1966–1967, He served as Executive and Commanding Officer for several submarines, including the INS Kalvari and the INS Karanj, which he commissioned and sailed from the Baltic Sea to India. He received the Vir Chakra gallantry award for his service as commander of the Karanj during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.^[1]

Vir Chakra

The citation for the Vir Chakra reads as follows:^[3]^[4]

Gazette Notification: 86 Pres/72 15-7-72
Operation: 1971

CITATION

COMMANDER VIJAI SINGH SHEKHAWAT

(00189-B)

During the operations against Pakistan in December 1971, Commander Vijai Singh Shekhawat was the commanding officer of an Indian naval submarine. Despite the fact that the patrol duties of his ship were such that he was under constant surveillance by enemy air and surface forces, he continued to carry out his hazardous patrol and thereby posed a constant underwater threat to the enemy.
His probes of the near approaches to Karachi obtained vital information for the Indian Navy. Throughout, Commander Shekhawat displayed gallantry, leadership and professional skill of a high order.

Promoted to substantive commander on 31 December 1971,^[5] Shekhawat served as director of the Indian Navy Submarine Arm from 1975 to 1977. After attending the US Naval War College from 1977 to 1978, Shekhawat was promoted to captain on 1 July 1978,^[6] and served from 1979 to 1981 as the Chief Instructor at the National Defence Academy.^[1]

Flag Rank

Shekhawat was promoted to acting Rear Admiral on 21 June 1984 (substantive from 30 June),^[7] and served as the Assistant Chief of Naval Staff.^[8] He was given command of the Western Fleet during Operation Brasstacks. He was promoted to Vice Admiral on 8 August 1988,^[9] with appointment as Director General of the tri-service Defence Planning Staff. and obtained the rank of Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command in December 1990. In 1992, Shekhawat was promoted to the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, and in September 1993 he was again promoted to Chief of the Naval Staff.^[2] Shekhawat retired in 1996.^[2]

Personal life

Shekhawat is married to Mrs. Binu Shekhawat and has two sons, one of whom is a pilot with the Indian Navy.^[1]

Awards and decorations

Param Vishisht Seva Medal	Ati Vishisht Seva Medal	Vir Chakra	Samar Seva Star
Poorvi Star	Paschimi Star	Raksha Medal	Sangram Medal
25th Independence Anniversary Medal	30 Years Long Service Medal	20 Years Long Service Medal	9 Years Long Service Medal

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Admiral Vijai Singh Shekhawat". Bahara Rakshak. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c Abidi, S. Sartaj Alam; Sharma, Satinder (2007). Services Chiefs of India. Northern Book Centre. p. 127. ISBN 9788172111625. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
^ "VS SHEKHAWAT | Gallantry Awards". gallantryawards.gov.in.
^ "Vir Chakra (VrC), Awardee: Adm Vijai Singh Shekhawat, PVSM, AVSM, VrC, ADC @ TWDI". twdi.in.
^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 23 September 1972. p. 1422.
^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)". The Gazette of India. 14 July 1979. p. 642.
^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)". The Gazette of India. 13 April 1985. p. 509.
^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)". The Gazette of India. 12 July 1986. p. 1062.
^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)". The Gazette of India. 12 June 1993. p. 1077.

Military offices
Preceded by S. C. Chopra	Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet 1986–1987	Succeeded by KASZ Raju
Preceded by S. W. Lakhkar	Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area 1987–1988	Succeeded by P. A. Debrass
Preceded by Laxminarayan Ramdas	Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command 1990–1992	Succeeded by B Guha
Preceded by S. P. Govil	Vice Chief of the Naval Staff 1992–1993	Succeeded by S. K. Chand
Preceded by Laxminarayan Ramdas	Chief of the Naval Staff 1993–1996	Succeeded by Vishnu Bhagwat
Preceded by Air Chief Marshal S. K. Kaul	Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee 1995–1996	Succeeded by General Shankar Roychowdhury

[rakshak-1] "Admiral Vijai Singh Shekhawat". Bahara Rakshak. Retrieved 31 March 2014.

[chiefs-2] Abidi, S. Sartaj Alam; Sharma, Satinder (2007). Services Chiefs of India. Northern Book Centre. p. 127. ISBN 9788172111625. Retrieved 14 June 2017.

[3] "VS SHEKHAWAT | Gallantry Awards". gallantryawards.gov.in.

[4] "Vir Chakra (VrC), Awardee: Adm Vijai Singh Shekhawat, PVSM, AVSM, VrC, ADC @ TWDI". twdi.in.

[5] "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 23 September 1972. p. 1422.

[6] "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)". The Gazette of India. 14 July 1979. p. 642.

[7] "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)". The Gazette of India. 13 April 1985. p. 509.

[8] "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)". The Gazette of India. 12 July 1986. p. 1062.

[9] "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)". The Gazette of India. 12 June 1993. p. 1077.

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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