The Director General Naval Operations (DGNO) is a senior appointment in the Indian Navy. The DGNO is responsible for planning, executing, and overseeing all operational aspects of the Indian Navy. The office is held by a Three star officer in the rank of Vice Admiral.
History At the time of independence of India on 15 August 1947, the Directorate of Operations was under the Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy, the de facto Second-in-command. In 1949, the Chief of Staff was also made Deputy Commander-in-Chief RIN. In 1955, the post was re-designated Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (DCNS). The Directorate continued to be under the DCNS until 1984, when an Assistant Principal Staff Officer (APSO) appointment called Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Operations) (ACNS Ops) was created. A two-star appointment, the ACNS (Ops) continued to report into the DCNS.
In 1986, the Directorates of Submarine Operations, Tactics, Diving and Oceanology & Meteorology were added to ACNS (Ops). In 1997, Information warfare was added to the mandate of ACNS (Ops) and the appointment was re-designated ACNS (IWOPS). In 2013, the appointment was upgraded to Three-star rank and re-designated Director General Naval Operations. Vice Admiral Girish Luthra took over as the first DGNO.
Current organisation The DGNO is part of the Staff Branch-II at the Naval Headquarters, reporting into the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. The following Assistant Principal Staff Officers and directorates report into the DGNO. Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Communication, Space and Network Centric Operations) Directorate of Naval Signals Directorate Network and Space Operations Directorate of Network Centric Operations Directorate of Naval Operations Directorate of Special Operations and Diving Directorate of Information Warfare Directorate of Naval Oceanology and Meteorology Directorate of Submarine Operations Naval History Division
Directors General Naval Operations S.No. Name Assumed office Left office Notes1Vice Admiral Girish Luthra 8 April 201331 December 2014Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.2Vice Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla 31 December 201427 May 2016Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command.3Vice Admiral Satishkumar Namdeo Ghormade 28 May 201613 February 2019Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.4Vice Admiral M. A. Hampiholi 27 March 201912 August 2020Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command.5Vice Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi 13 August 202030 May 2021Later Chief of the Naval Staff.6Vice Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar 7 June 202131 March 2023Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.7Vice Admiral Atul Anand 1 April 20233 July 2023Current Additional Secretary, Department of Military Affairs.8Vice Admiral A. N. Pramod 21 January 202431 July 2026Current Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff.9Vice Admiral Manish Chadha 3 August 2026 Incumbenthttps://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2293987®=48&lang=1
See also Director General of Military Operations Director General Air Operations
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