The Commandant of the National Defence Academy is the head and overall in-charge of the National Defence Academy. The Commandant of the Academy is a Three-star rank officer from the three Services in rotation. The current Commandant is Vice Admiral Anil Jaggi who took over from Vice Admiral Gurcharan Singh on 5 November 2025. He is supported by the Deputy Commandant (a Two-star rank appointment), Brigadier Administration (Brig Adm), Principal Director (Training) (both One-Star appointments), a Civilian Principal and the Adjutant (An Officer of the rank of Lieutenant Colonel).

Commissioned as Joint Services Wing (JSW), the interim training academy was set up at the Indian Military Academy (IMA). The first Commandant of JSW was Major General Thakur Mahadeo Singh, DSO. The present-day National Defence Academy was constructed in Pune and was formally commissioned on 7 December 1954 as the successor to JSW of IMA. The program of JSW was transferred from IMA to NDA. Major General Enaith Habibullah was the last head of the JSW and the First Commandant of NDA at Pune.

Joint Services Wing at Indian Military Academy S.No. Name Branch Assumed office Left office Notes 1 Major General Thakur Mahadeo Singh 1 January 1949 12 March 1950 First head of JSW at IMA. 2 Major General K. S. Thimayya 13 March 1950 17 June 1951 Later served as the Chief of Army Staff of Indian Army. 3 Major General Mohinder Singh Wadalia 16 Jun 1951 6 January 1953 4 Major General Enaith Habibullah 7 January 1953 6 December 1954 Last head of JSW at IMA

National Defence Academy S.No. Name Branch Assumed office Left office Notes 1 Major General Enaith Habibullah 7 December 1954 26 December 1958 First Commandant at NDA, Khadakwasla. 2 Rear Admiral Benjamin Abraham Samson 27 December 1958 1 January 1963 First non-army and also the first Naval Officer to be the Commandant. Later Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet (FOCIF). 3 Air Vice Marshal K. L. Sondhi 6 January 1963 25 September 1963 First Air Force Officer to be the Commandant. 4 Major General R. Bakhshi 26 September 1963 8 August 1966 5Air Vice Marshal S. N. Goyal 9 August 1966 18 June 1968 6 Rear Admiral R. N. Batra 19 June 1968 05 October 1970 7 Major General S. D. Gupta 16 October 1970 1 January 1973 8 Air Vice Marshal M. B. Naik 3 January 1973 7 March 1976 9 Rear Admiral M P Awati8 March 1976 22 July 1977 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command. 10 Major General R. K. Jasbir Singh 22 July 1977 21 May 1979 11 Air Marshal M. J. Dotiwalla 9 July 1979 30 June 1982 First three-star air force officer to be the commandant. 12 Rear Admiral R. P. Sawhney 1 July 1982 15 August 1985 First Ex-NDA commandant. Alumnus of the first NDA (JSW) Course. 13 Lieutenant General Sami Khan 16 August 1985 2 November 1986 First three-star army officer (Lieutenant General) to be the commandant. Later General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Central Command. 14 Lieutenant General K. L. K. Singh 12 December 1986 28 June 1988 15 Air Marshal D. S. Sabhikhi 29 June 1988 31 August 1991 16 Vice Admiral Inderjit Bedi 1 September 1991 11 October 1993 First three-star naval officer (Vice Admiral) to be the commandant. Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command. 17 Lieutenant General S. K. Jetley 12 October 1993 24 March 1995 18 Air Marshal A. S. Sethi 25 March 1995 31 January 1996 19 Air Marshal J. S. Rai 1 February 1996 9 June 1997 20 Vice Admiral Arun Prakash 19 March 1999 Later Chief of the Naval Staff. 21 Lieutenant General S. B. S. Kochar 12 April 1999 31 March 2001 22 Air Marshal A. K. Trikha 1 April 2001 31 December 2002 23 Vice Admiral S. C. S. Bangara 01 January 2003 24 July 2004 24 Lieutenant General A K Chopra 4 August 2004 30 November 2006 25 Air Marshal T S Randhawa 1 December 2006 31 December 2008 26 Vice Admiral R K Dhowan 1 January 2009 29 November 2009 Later served as the Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy. 27 Vice Admiral Satish Soni 29 November 2009 1 January 2011 Later FOC-in-C of Southern and Eastern Commands of Indian Navy. 28 Lieutenant General Jatinder Singh 1 January 2011 5 July 2012 Removed from the position. Accused of being involved in recruitment scandal. 29 Lieutenant General Ashok Singh 7 August 2012 31 December 2012 Later served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command. 30 Air Marshal K S Gill 1 January 2013 31 July 2014 Later served as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Central Air Command. 31 Air Marshal R K S Bhadauria 1 August 2014 31 January 2015Later served as Chief of the Air Staff 32 Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar 1 April 2015 2 June 2016 Later served as the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff 33 Air Marshal Jasjit Singh Kler 20 June 2016 31 March 2018 34 Air Marshal Vipin Indira Panabhan Nayar 7 April 2018 14 December 2019 Later Commandant of the Air Force Academy. 35 Lieutenant General Asit Mistry 1 February 2020 31 October 2021 36 Air Marshal Sanjeev Kapoor 01 November 2021 31 March 2022 Later Commandant of the Air Force Academy. 37 Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar 1 April 2022 24 May 2024 Current Vice Chief of the Naval Staff. 38 Vice Admiral Gurcharan Singh 25 May 2024 31 October 2025 Current Chief of Personnel.39Vice Admiral Anil Jaggi5 Nov 2025Present

List of Commandants by branches of service BranchCount151314

See also Commandant of the Indian Military Academy Commandant of the National Defence College Commandant of Indian Naval Academy

References