NEW DELHI (PTI): Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain took over as Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC), the Defence Ministry said on Monday.

Commissioned into the Indian Navy in July 1982, Jain is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA), the Defence Services Staff College (Wellington), the College of Naval Warfare (Mumbai) and the National Defence College (Pretoria, South Africa).

Prior to his appointment as CISC, Jain has held various operational, staff and command appointments in the course of his career spanning over 38 years.

He has commanded four ships including the indigenously built destroyer INS Mysore.

His appointments ashore include Director, Naval Intelligence (Protocol), Director, Foreign Liaison and Principal Director Staff Requirement at Integrated Headquarters, Ministry of Defence (Navy).

On promotion to flag rank, he commanded Karnataka Naval Area and the Eastern Fleet and was the deputy chief of Integrated Staff at HQ IDS at New Delhi before taking over as the Commander-in-Chief of Eastern Naval Command.

In another appointment, Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh, took over as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C), Eastern Naval Command (ENC) from Jain.

Commissioned on July 1, 1983, Singh is an alumnus of the NDA. A navigation and direction specialist, he has held various operational staff and command appointments in his career spanning over 38 years.

He has commanded Indian Naval Ships Veer (missile vessel), Vindhyagiri (frigate), Trishul (guided missile frigate) and Viraat (aircraft carrier).