Kochi. 01 January 2024. Vice Admiral V Srinivas, AVSM, NM took over as the 30th Flag Officer Commanding- in-Chief (FOCINC), Southern Naval Command at an impressive ceremonial parade held at Naval Base, Kochi on 31 Dec 23. He succeeded Vice Admiral MA Hampiholi, PVSM, AVSM, NM who retired upon superannuation after an illustrious career spanning close to four decades in the Indian Navy. Floral wreaths were placed at Venduruthy War memorial by both the Flag Officers in a solemn ceremony to pay homage to all personnel who made the supreme sacrifice in service of the Nation.
Vice Admiral V Srinivas is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned in the Indian Navy on 01 Jul 1987. An Anti-submarine warfare specialist, he served onboard frontline submarines INS Shalki, INS Shishumar and INS Shankul (during Op Vijay). In his career spanning 36 years, he has commanded INS Shankul, on two occasions, destroyer INS Ranvir and the nuclear submarine INS Chakra. He holds the distinction of being one of the only two officers ever in Indian Navy to have commanded a frontline warship as well as an SSN. His staff assignments have been equally coveted which include Commander Submarines at COMCOS (W), Chief Staff Officer to Flag Officer Submarines, Principal Director Ship Systems and Development (PDSSD) and Commanding Officer of Submarine Training establishment, INS Satavahana. The Admiral is a graduate of Defence Services Staff College at Wellington and Naval War College at Goa where he was awarded the CinC’s Silver Medal and Senior Defence Management Course (SDMC) at CDM Secunderabad. He has excellent and varied operational experience having participated in Operations Pawan, Vijay and Parakram and enormous expertise in the field of nuclear safety.
As a Flag officer, he has served as Flag Officer Submarines (FOSM), Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area (FOMA), Project Director (Operations & Training), HQ ATVP and was the Inspector General Nuclear Safety (IGNS), prior taking over as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief on 31 Dec 23. He was awarded the Nau Sena Medal (NM) in 2009 and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) in 2021.
