# Flag Officer Commanding Gujarat Naval Area

Flag Officer Commanding Gujarat, Daman & Diu Naval Area (FOGNA) is a senior appointment in the Indian Navy. One of the five Area Commanders of the Indian Navy, the FOGNA is a two star admiral holding the rank of Rear Admiral. The FOGNA is responsible for the operations and administration of all units and establishments in Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. The Current FOGNA is Rear Admiral Sathish Vasudev, who assumed office on 24 August 2024.

## History

In 1966, the appointment of Naval Officer-in-Charge (NOIC) Kathiawar was created. A small forward outpost was created at Okha, under the NOIC. Initially, the NOIC was based out of Mumbai, later moving to Okha. In late 1972, the establishment was commissioned as INS Dwarka, with the NOIC (Kathiawar) as the commanding officer. In 1983, NOIC (Kathiawar) was re-designated as NOIC (Saurashtra), and moved to Dwarka II in Porbandar in 1985. NOIC (Saurashtra) was again later re-designated as NOIC (Gujarat) in 1997.
In the 1980s, a proposal to upgrade NOIC to Flag Officer Saurashtra Area (FOSA) was mooted but shelved. For a brief period, the Maharashtra Naval Area was expanded to include Gujarat, Daman and Diu. The Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra and Gujarat Naval Area headed the combined Naval area. In 2015, to enhance the operational and administrative efficiency, the Maharashtra and Gujarat Naval Area was divided to make two separate headquarters under Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area (FOMA) and Flag Officer Commanding Gujarat Naval Area (FOGNA).
The last Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra and Gujarat Naval Area, Rear Admiral Murlidhar Sadashiv Pawar handed over command of the Maharashtra Area to Rear Admiral S. N. Ghormade and officiated as the first Flag Officer Gujarat Naval Area.

## Organisation

The FOGNA is assisted by the NOIC (Gujarat), a one-star appointment. The NOIC (Guj) also serves as the Chief Staff Officer at Headquarters Gujarat Naval Area (HQGNA). The FOGNA is responsible to the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command for the operations and administration of all units and establishments in Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. The establishments under the FOGNA include:
* Headquarters Gujarat Naval Area (HQGNA)
* The Forward operating base INS Dwarka
* The naval base INS Sardar Patel
* Naval Air Enclave, Porbandar
* The naval air squadron INAS 343
* The naval air squadron INAS 314
* Sagar Prahari Bal, Porbandar

## List of Commanders

| S.No. | Name | Assumed office | Left office | Notes |
| 1 | Rear Admiral Murlidhar Sadashiv Pawar VSM | 21 October 2015 | 30 March 2016 | First FOGNA. Later Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. |
| 2 | Rear Admiral Sandeep Beecha | 30 March 2016 | 27 November 2017 | Later Commandant Naval War College, Goa. |
| 3 | Rear Admiral Sanjay Roye VSM | 27 November 2017 | 10 February 2020 | |
| 4 | Rear Admiral Puruvir Das NM | 10 February 2020 | 6 December 2021 | Later Chief Instructor (Navy) at Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. |
| 5 | Rear Admiral Manish Chadha VSM | 6 December 2021 | 29 November 2022 | Later Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area. |
| 6 | Rear Admiral Sameer Saxena AVSM, NM | 29 November 2022 | 31 July 2023 | Earlier Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet. Current Chief of Staff, Eastern Naval Command. |
| 7 | Rear Admiral Anil Jaggi | 1 August 2023 | 24 August 2024 | Current Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area. |
| 8 | Rear Admiral Sathish Vasudev NM | 24 August 2024 | Present | Current FOGNA. |