Vice Admiral Puneet Kumar Bahl,

AVSM Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) is a military award of India given to recognize "distinguished service of an exceptional order" to all ranks of the armed forces. The award is a peacetime equivalent of Uttam Yuddh Seva Medal, which is a Wartime Dis ...

, VSM is a serving officer in the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

. He currently serves as the

Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

of the

Indian Naval Academy The Indian Naval Academy (INA or INA Ezhimala) is the defence service training establishment for officer cadre of the Indian Naval Service and the Indian Coast Guard, located in Ezhimala, Kannur district, Kerala. Situated between Ezhimala h ...

. He previously served as the Director General

Project Seabird INS Kadamba or Naval Base Karwar or Project Seabird is an Indian Navy base located near Karwar in Karnataka. The first phase of construction of the base, code-named ''Project Seabird'', was completed in 2005 and the base was commissioned on 3 ...

, Flag Officer Maharashtra Area (FOMA) in Mumbai and as the Flag Officer Commanding Goa Naval Area (FOGA) and Flag Officer Naval Aviation (FONA) in Goa.

Early life and education

Bahl graduated from the

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services i.e. the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force train together before they go on ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

. He later attended the

Defence Services Staff College , motto_lang = sa , mottoeng = ''To War with Wisdom'' , established = (as the ''Army Staff College'', Deolali) , type = Defence Service Training Institute , affiliation = , endowment = , administrative_staff = , faculty = , presi ...

(DSSC),

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

where he was awarded the Lengtaine Medal, and the Naval higher command course at the College of Naval Warfare, Mumbai.

Naval career

Bahl was commissioned into the

on 1 July 1984. He trained as a

Naval aviator Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based a ...

and is a

maritime reconnaissance {{Unreferenced, date=March 2008 Maritime patrol is the task of monitoring areas of water. Generally conducted by military and law enforcement agencies, maritime patrol is usually aimed at identifying human activities. Maritime patrol refers to ac ...

pilot, having flown six different types of aircraft. He also qualified as a ship's diver. As a pilot, he served at the naval air stations

INS Garuda INS Garuda , is an Indian naval air station located in Kochi, in the state of Kerala. Commissioned on 11 May 1953, it is the oldest operating air station of the Indian Navy. The air station is adjacent to INS Venduruthy and the headquarters of ...

and

INS Rajali INS Rajali, is an Indian naval air station located near Arakkonam, Ranipet district, Tamil Nadu in southern India. It operates under the Southern Naval Command of the Indian Navy, and has the longest military runway in Asia. Data current as ...

. He also served on the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

station AFS Yelahanka and with the CGAS 700 squadron of the

Indian Coast Guard The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) is a maritime law enforcement and search and rescue agency of India with jurisdiction over its territorial waters including its contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone. The Indian Coast Guard was formally esta ...

. He also participated in flying operations in Operation Tasha and Operation Vijay. Bahl has commanded the Brahmaputra-class

guided missile frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

and the Sukanya-class patrol vessel and served on board the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

, the guided missile frigate and INS Porbandar. He has served as

Directing staff Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

at DSSC Wellington and subsequently as the Joint Director Naval Air Staff (Aviation Plans) at Naval headquarters. As a

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, he served as the

Defence Attaché Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

(DA) in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and

Republic of Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its east ...

at the Embassy of India at Tokyo from 2007 to 2010. As the DA, he coordinated and facilitated a Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation between India and Japan. Promoted to the rank of

commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore, a ...

, Bahl commanded the premier strategic airbase INS Rajali. He oversaw the induction and operationalisation of the Boeing P-8I for which the base was awarded with the unit citation by the

Chief of the Naval Staff (India) The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), also known as the Navy Chief, abbreviated to CNS, is a statutory position in the Indian Navy held by a four star admiral. As the highest ranking officer to serve solely in the Indian Navy, the chief is the ...

Flag rank

Rear Admiral Puneet K Bahl and the Commanding Officer of the visiting Omani naval ship

In January 2015, Bahl was promoted to the rank of

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

and appointed Assistant Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff, WSOI (ACIDS WSOI) at the

Integrated Defence Staff The Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) is an organisation responsible for fostering coordination and enabling prioritisation across the different branches of the Indian Armed Forces. It is composed of representatives from the Indian Army, Indian Navy, ...

(IDS) headquarters. After a short stint as ACIDS, in October that year, he took over as the Flag Officer Commanding Goa Naval Area (FOGA) and dual-hatted as the Flag Officer Naval Aviation (FONA). He served as FOGA&FONA for two-and-a-half years, after which he moved to Mumbai as the Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area (FOMA), succeeding Rear Admiral

Sanjay Mahindru Vice Admiral (India), Vice Admiral Sanjay Mahindru, AVSM, Nau Sena Medal, NM is a former flag officer in the Indian Navy. He last served as the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff, from 31 Mar 2022 to 30 Sept ...

in February 2018. In 2019, he was appointed Chief Staff Officer (Training) of the

Southern Naval Command The Southern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy. It has its headquarters in Kochi, Kerala at INS Venduruthy. It is the Training Command of the Indian Navy. The Command is commanded by a Three Star Fla ...

in Kochi. He subsequently served as the Chief Instructor (Navy) at the

(DSSC),

. On 1 January 2021, he was promoted to the rank of vice admiral and appointed Director General Project Seabird.

Personal life

Bahl is married to Anjali Bahl. The couple have two sons, Dhruv and Robin.

Awards and decorations

In 2005, he was awarded the Chief of Naval Staff commendation card. For distinguished service, he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2015 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2020.

References