Chennai, Apr 26 (PTI) Rear Admiral Ravi Kumar Dhingra has assumed charge as the Flag Officer Commanding of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Naval Area (FOTNA), the government said on Wednesday.

Dhingra, an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Pune assumed charge on April 25, a Defence release here said.

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He was commissioned into the executive branch of the Indian Navy on Jan 1, 1992 and joined the Submarine Arm in 1994.

"The officer is a specialist in Navigation & Direction and has served on a large number of operational naval ships and submarines in varying capacities," the release said.

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The officer's appointments include key tenures as Staff Officer (Operations) and Commander Submarines at INS Vajrabahu as well as the "dual-hatted appointment" of Commodore Commanding Submarines (West) and Commanding Officer INS Vajrabahu.

Dhingra is a Post Graduate in Defence Studies from the prestigious Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Tamil Nadu and has an M Phil in Strategic Studies from Mumbai University.

He was awarded commendation from the Chief of Naval Staff in 2004 and a Distinguished Service Medal (Vishisht Seva Medal) in 2019.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)