Surgeon Vice Admiral Sheila Samanta Mathai, NM, VSM is a former flag officer in the Indian Navy. She last served as the Director General (Organisation & Personnel) of the

Armed Forces Medical Services The Armed Force Medical Services (AFMS) is an inter services organisation under the Ministry of Defense, covering the Indian Armed Forces. It came into existence in 1948. The Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (in the rank of Lt Gen o ...

. She is the fourth woman in the Indian Armed Forces to be promoted to a three-star rank, after Surgeon Vice Admiral

Punita Arora Surgeon Vice Admiral (Lieutenant General) Punita Arora PVSM, SM, VSM is a former Flag Officer of the Indian Navy and the Indian Army. Arora was the first woman in the Indian Armed Forces to be promoted to a Three-star rank. She held the ranks ...

, Air Marshal Padma Bandopadhyay and Lieutenant General

Madhuri Kanitkar Lieutenant General Dr. Madhuri Kanitkar, PVSM, AVSM, VSM is a retired General Officer in the Indian Army. She is the third woman in the Indian Armed Forces to be promoted to a Three-star rank, after Lieutenant General Punita Arora and Air Ma ...

. She is currently the head of the department of neonatology in Kasturba Medical College, Manipal.

Early life and education

Mathai was born into an Armed Forces family. Her father was a surgeon in the

Army Medical Corps A medical corps is generally a military branch or officer corps responsible for medical care for serving military personnel. Such officers are typically military physicians. List of medical corps The following organizations are examples of medica ...

. She attended the Loreto Schools, Kolkata. She lost her parents early and joined the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune (AFMC), her father's alma mater. At AFMC, she completed her

MBBS Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

and was awarded the Kalinga Trophy for the best outgoing student.

Military career

Mathai was commissioned in the Indian Navy in 1985. She subsequently did her post-graduation, earning the Doctor of Medicine degree in

Pediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until th ...

from the University of Mumbai. She then earned a DM degree in

Neonatology Neonatology is a subspecialty of pediatrics that consists of the medical care of newborn infants, especially the ill or premature newborn. It is a hospital-based specialty, and is usually practised in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The ...

, also from the University of Mumbai. She was awarded a Commonwealth Visiting Fellowship to the UK in Neonatology in 2003, and was conferred a Fellowship of the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) in 2014. Mathai has set up the paediatric departments at INHS Dhanvantari in

Port Blair Port Blair () is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headquarters for the district of South And ...

and at the INHS Jeevanti in Goa. She has also set up the neonatal intensive care units in service and cantonment hospitals in Mumbai and Pune. As a Surgeon Commodore, she served as the Professor and Head of Department of Paediatrics at the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune. She subsequently served as the Director & Dean of the Institute of Naval Medicine in Mumbai, an institute headed by her husband in the past.

Flag rank

Mathai 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 Command Medical Officer,

Eastern Naval Command The Eastern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The command is responsible for the all naval forces in the Bay of Bengal and parts of the Indian Ocea ...

. She was subsequently appointed

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the naval hospital INHS Asvini in Mumbai. She was in command of the naval hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. On 31 January 2021, she relinquished command of ''Asvini'', handing over to Rear Admiral Arti Sarin, in a rare event of a change of command between two women flag officers. On 1 February, she took over as the Command Medical Officer of the Western Naval Command. On 26 August 2021, she was promoted to the rank of Surgeon Vice Admiral, only the fourth woman to be promoted to three-star rank in the Indian Armed Forces. She assumed the post of Director General (Organisation and Personnel) of the

under the Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS).

Personal life

Mathai is married to a retired officer of the Indian Navy, Surgeon Commodore K. I. Mathai, VSM, a neurosurgeon who served in the navy for 35 years. The couple have a daughter.

Awards and decorations

Mathai has been awarded the Chief of the Naval Staff Commendation Card in 1993, the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2012, and the Nao Sena Medal in 2021.

References