Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti, AVSM, VSM is a serving Flag officer in the Indian Navy. He currently serves as the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. He last served as the Director General Project Seabird. He earlier served as the

Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF) is the title of the Indian Navy Officer who commands the Eastern Fleet, headquartered in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The FOCEF is a Two Star Officer holding the rank of Rear Admiral. The Current FOC ...

and as the Deputy Commandant and Chief Instructor at the Indian Naval Academy from March 2019 to January 2021. He was the commissioning

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 Kolkata-class guided missile destroyer .

Early life and education

Sobti was born in an army family. His father was a

general officer A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

in the Indian Army, retiring as a Major General. His mother was a teacher and his elder brother also joined the Army, retiring in 2017. Sobti attended the Delhi Public School, Mathura Road. After his schooling, he joined and graduated from the National Defence Academy, Pune in 1986. He was awarded the President's Gold Medal, for standing first in overall order of merit.

Naval career

Sobti was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 1 July 1988. He is a specialist in Navigation and direction. During the specialisation course, he stood first and was adjudged the Best all-round trainee. He attended the Collège Interarmées de Défense in Paris and the

College of Naval Warfare A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering v ...

(CNW) in Mumbai. During the Naval Higher Command Course at the CNW, he was awarded the CNS Gold Medal for Best Op Paper. He has served as the navigating officer of the

Khukri-class corvette The ''Khukri''-class corvette is a class of corvettes intended to replace the ageing Petya II-class corvettes of the Indian Navy. The first two were ordered in December 1983 and the remaining in 1985. Around 65% of the ship contains indigen ...

and was part of the commissioning crew of the Delhi-class Guided missile destroyer as its navigating officer. He later served as the direction officer of 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 ...

and the

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, o ...

of the guided missile destroyer . Sobti has commanded the Veer-class missile vessel , and the lead ship of the

Kora-class corvette ''Kora''-class corvettes are guided missile corvettes, in active service with the Indian Navy and the National Coast Guard of Mauritius.lead ship of the indigenously-built Kolkata-class Guided missile destroyers was commissioned by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mumbai. Sobti was the commissioning

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 ship. Sobti, in his staff appointments, has served as the Joint Director of Staff Requirements and Joint Director of Personnel at Naval headquarters. He also served as the Captain Work-Up at Local Work-Up Team (East). The LWT (East) is under the operational control of Flag Officer Sea Training and administrative control of the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief

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 ...

. As a Commodore, he served as the Naval attaché at the

Embassy of India in Moscow This is a list of diplomatic missions of India. India has one of the largest diplomatic networks, reflecting its links in the world and particularly in neighbouring regions: Central Asia, the Middle East, East Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia, and ...

Flag rank

On promotion to Flag Rank, in March 2019, Sobti took over as the Deputy Commandant and Chief Instructor at the Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala. After a 21 month stint as Deputy Commandant, he handed over to Rear Admiral A. N. Pramod in January 2021. For this stint, Sobti was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal on 26 January 2020. On 23 February 2021, he assumed the office of the

, taking over from

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 ...

Sanjay Vatsayan who commanded the fleet from 2020 to 2021. Under his command, the Eastern Fleet, executed Operation Samudra Setu II and Operation Sagar. These operations were aimed at the transfer of medical oxygen and provided humanitarian assistance to friendly foreign countries respectively. The fleet also participated in the maritime exercise Malabar 21 in Western Pacific off Guam. For his command of the Eastern fleet, he was awarded the

Ati Vishisht Seva Medal 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 ...

on 26 January 2022. On promotion to the rank of Vice Admiral, on 24 December 2021, Sobti took over 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 ...

, from Vice Admiral

Puneet Kumar Bahl Vice Admiral Puneet Kumar Bahl, AVSM, VSM is a serving officer in the Indian Navy. He currently serves as the Commandant of the Indian Naval Academy. He previously served as the Director General Project Seabird, Flag Officer Maharashtra Area (FO ...

. He was succeeded by Vice Admiral Rajesh Dhankhar as the DG of the project. On 1 October 2023, Sobti was appointed Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff and took over Vice 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 ...

who retired.

Awards and decorations

Personal life

Sobti is married to Shagun Sobti, a teacher. The couple have a daughter, Mallika.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sobti, Tarun Indian Navy vice admirals Flag Officers Commanding Eastern Fleet National Defence Academy (India) alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Vishisht Seva Medal Indian naval attachés Deputy Commandants of the Indian Naval Academy