Gurcharan Singh

Vice Admiral Gurcharan Singh, AVSM, NM is a serving Flag officer in the Indian Navy. He currently serves as the Chief of Personnel at NHQ. He earlier served as the Commandant of the National Defence Academy and as the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet.

Early life and education Singh was born in a naval family. His father was a gunnery officer and was posted at INS Venduruthy and subsequently at the gunnery school INS Dronacharya. Singh spent his childhood in Kochi and attended the Kendriya Vidyalaya Naval Base Kochi. After his schooling, he joined the National Defence Academy, Pune.

Singh has attended the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, the Naval War College, Goa and the National Defence College. he has also attended the Maritime Intelligence Course at National Intelligence University (NIU), Washington, D.C. and the United Nations Staff Officers Course (UNSOC) at Stockholm, Sweden. He has served in specialist tenures on board the Rajput-class destroyer and the Veer-class corvette . He was the commissioning gunnery officer of the lead ship of her class of guided missile frigates . He was also the commissioning executive officer of the lead ship of her class of stealth guided missile frigates .

Singh, in his staff appointments, has served as the training coordinator at the gunnery base INS Dronacharya. He also served as the Director of Naval Intelligence at Naval headquarters. As a Commodore, he served as the Chief Staff Officer and Commodore Work Up at Indian Naval Workup Team Kochi (INWT), under the Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST). For his tenure at INWT, on 26 January 2020, he was awarded the Nao Sena Medal for devotion to duty. He subsequently served as the Deputy Commandant of his alma mater, Naval War College, Goa. As CSO (Ops), he planned and executed the search and rescue operations during Cyclone Tauktae. He also planned the Operation Samudra Setu II, where warships were deployed for shipment of liquid medical oxygen and medical equipment from various countries. After a year-long tenure, he relinquished charge to Rear Admiral Rajesh Dhankhar. For his tenure as FOCEF, he was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal on 26 January 2024. In the same month, he was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral and appointed Controller of Personnel Services at NHQ. After a short stint as CPS, he was appointed Commandant of the National Defence Academy. He took over from Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar on 25 May 2024. In November 2025, he moved to naval headquarters, as the Chief of Personnel, a Principal Staff Officer (PSO) appointment.

Personal life Singh is married to Kamaljit Chatha. The couple has two daughters, Anushka and Tammanna.

Awards and decorations Singh was awarded the FOC-in-C commendation in 2002, the Nao Sena Medal in 2020 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2024.