Flag Officer Commanding Gujarat Naval Area

Flag Officer Commanding Gujarat, Daman & Diu Naval Area (FOGNA) is a senior appointment in the Indian Navy. One of the five Area Commanders of the Indian Navy, the FOGNA is a two star admiral holding the rank of Rear Admiral. The FOGNA is responsible for the operations and administration of all units and establishments in Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. The Current FOGNA is Rear Admiral Sathish Vasudev, who assumed office on 24 August 2024.

Flag Officer Commanding Gujarat Naval Area (FOGNA)
Flag of the FOGNA (Rear Admiral's flag)
Incumbent Rear Admiral Sathish Vasudev, NM since 24 August 2024
Indian Navy
Abbreviation	FOGNA
Member of	Indian Navy
Reports to	Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command
Residence	Flag House Porbandar
Seat	Porbandar
Appointer	Government of India
First holder	Rear Admiral Murlidhar Sadashiv Pawar

History

In 1966, the appointment of Naval Officer-in-Charge (NOIC) Kathiawar was created. A small forward outpost was created at Okha, under the NOIC. Initially, the NOIC was based out of Mumbai, later moving to Okha.^[1] In late 1972, the establishment was commissioned as INS Dwarka, with the NOIC (Kathiawar) as the commanding officer. In 1983, NOIC (Kathiawar) was re-designated as NOIC (Saurashtra), and moved to Dwarka II in Porbandar in 1985. NOIC (Saurashtra) was again later re-designated as NOIC (Gujarat) in 1997.^[2]

In the 1980s, a proposal to upgrade NOIC to Flag Officer Saurashtra Area (FOSA) was mooted but shelved.^[3] For a brief period, the Maharashtra Naval Area was expanded to include Gujarat, Daman and Diu. The Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra and Gujarat Naval Area headed the combined Naval area.^[4] In 2015, to enhance the operational and administrative efficiency, the Maharashtra and Gujarat Naval Area was divided to make two separate headquarters under Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area (FOMA) and Flag Officer Commanding Gujarat Naval Area (FOGNA).^[5]

The last Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra and Gujarat Naval Area, Rear Admiral Murlidhar Sadashiv Pawar handed over command of the Maharashtra Area to Rear Admiral S. N. Ghormade and officiated as the first Flag Officer Gujarat Naval Area.^[6][7][8]

Organisation

The FOGNA is assisted by the NOIC (Gujarat), a one-star appointment. The NOIC (Guj) also serves as the Chief Staff Officer at Headquarters Gujarat Naval Area (HQGNA). The FOGNA is responsible to the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command for the operations and administration of all units and establishments in Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. The establishments under the FOGNA include:^[9]

• Headquarters Gujarat Naval Area (HQGNA)
• The Forward operating base INS Dwarka
• The naval base INS Sardar Patel
• Naval Air Enclave, Porbandar
• The naval air squadron INAS 343
• The naval air squadron INAS 314
• Sagar Prahari Bal, Porbandar

List of Commanders

S.No.	Name	Assumed office	Left office	Notes
1	Rear Admiral Murlidhar Sadashiv Pawar VSM	21 October 2015	30 March 2016	First FOGNA. Later Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff.[10]
2	Rear Admiral Sandeep Beecha	30 March 2016	27 November 2017	Later Commandant Naval War College, Goa.[11]
3	Rear Admiral Sanjay Roye VSM	27 November 2017	10 February 2020	[12]
4	Rear Admiral Puruvir Das NM	10 February 2020	6 December 2021	Later Chief Instructor (Navy) at Defence Services Staff College, Wellington.[13][14]
5	Rear Admiral Manish Chadha VSM	6 December 2021	29 November 2022	Later Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area.[15]
6	Rear Admiral Sameer Saxena AVSM, NM	29 November 2022	31 July 2023	Earlier Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet. Current Chief of Staff, Eastern Naval Command.[16][17]
7	Rear Admiral Anil Jaggi	1 August 2023	24 August 2024	Current Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area.[18][17]
8	Rear Admiral Sathish Vasudev NM	24 August 2024	Present	Current FOGNA.[19]

See also

• INS Dwarka
• INS Sardar Patel

References

1. "Naval Officer In-charge (Gujarat) - DWARKA II". indiannavy.nic.in. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
2. "INS Dwarka". indiannavy.nic.in. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
3. Hiranandani 2005.
4. Doraibabu & Godbole 2023, p. 170.
5. "Navy creates separate Gujarat naval area". business-standard.com. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
6. "Maharashtra Area - Change of Command of FOMA". indiannavy.nic.in. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
7. "Maharashtra and Gujarat Naval Areas Divided into two Separate Headquarters". Punekar News. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
8. "For organizational efficiency: Maharashtra and Gujarat naval areas divided". The Economic Times. 11 July 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
9. "WNC Authorities & Units | Indian Navy". www.indiannavy.nic.in. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
10. "Maharashtra Area - Change of Command of FOMA | Indian NavyMaharashtra Area - Change of Command of FOMA". www.indiannavy.nic.in. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
11. "Rear Admiral Sandeep Beecha takes charge as FOGNA". The Times of India. 31 March 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
12. "Rear Admiral Sanjay Roye Takes Over as the New Flag Officer Commanding Gujarat Naval Area (FOGNA)". indiannavy.nic.in. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
13. "Rear Admiral Puruvir Das, NM assumes charge as the Flag Officer Commanding Gujarat Naval Area (FOGNA)". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
14. "Rear Admiral Puruvir Das, NM Assumes Charge as the Flag Officer Commanding Gujarat Naval Area". indiannavy.nic.in. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
15. "Change of Command Gujarat Naval Area". indiannavy.nic.in. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
16. "RAdm Sameer Saxena, NM took over Command of @IN_GDD as FOGNA today 29 Nov at a ceremonial parade at #Porbandar. RAdm Manish Chadha, VSM relinquished command & now proceeds to NHQ as ACOP (AC)". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 21 September 2023.
17. "RAdm Anil Jaggi assumed charge as Flag Officer Commanding Gujarat Naval Area from RAdm Sameer Saxena, in a ceremonial parade at #Porbandar on 01Aug23. An alumnus of the Naval Academy, he was commissioned into #IndianNavy in Jan 1993 & is a Navigation & Direction specialist (1/n)". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 21 September 2023.
18. "RAdm Anil Jaggi assumed charge as FOGNA". indiannavy.nic.in. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
19. "Gujarat Naval Area". x.com. Retrieved 25 August 2024.

Bibliography

• Hiranandani, G M (2005), Transition to eminence : the Indian navy 1976-1990, Lancer Publishers, ISBN 978-8170622666
• Doraibabu, M; Godbole, Amrut (2023), A Decade of Transformation: The Indian Navy 2011-2021, Harper Collins Publishers India, ISBN 9789394407909