Rear Admiral Sanjay Bhalla took over the Command of the Eastern Fleet, the Sword Arm of the Eastern Naval Command, from Rear Admiral Tarun Sobti, here on Monday.
The change of guard took place at an impressive ceremony held at Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam.
Rear Admiral Sanjay Bhalla was commissioned into the Indian Navy on January 1, 1989, and is a specialist in communication and electronic warfare.
He is an alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, College of Naval Warfare, Mumbai, and Royal College of Defence Studies, London.
He also served onboard several ships as signal communication officer. His commanded missile vessel INS Nishank, anti-submarine warfare frigate INS Taragiri and guided-missile frigate INS Beas.
His staff and operational appointments include those as Training Commander at the Indian Naval Academy, Director at Maritime Doctrine and Concepts Centre and Naval Assistant to the Chief of Naval Staff.
He also served as the Naval Adviser at the High Commission of India, Islamabad. Prior to assuming command of the Eastern Fleet, he was the Assistant Chief of Personnel (Human Resource Development) at Integrated Headquarters (Navy), New Delhi.
Over the past 10 months, the Eastern Fleet was under the command of Rear Admiral Tarun Sobti, who now will be taking over as the Director General, Project Seabird at Integrated Headquarters (Navy), New Delhi, shortly on promotion to the rank of Vice-Admiral.
