Naval War College, Goa

Naval War College
Former names
  • College of Naval Warfare
Motto
संग्रामॆ नैपुण्यम (Sanskrit)
Motto in English
Perfection in War
TypeWar college
Established1988
AffiliationUniversity of Mumbai
CommandantRear Admiral Arjun Dev Nair VSM
Location,
WebsiteNaval War College

The Naval War College (NWC) is a premier training institution of the Indian Navy, located in Goa. The college aims at developing leadership qualities of the officers of the Indian Armed Forces at the strategic and operational level. It is one of the three War Colleges of the Indian Armed Forces, Army War College, Mhow and College of Air Warfare, being the other two. The NWC operates under the Southern Naval Command, which is the training command of the Indian Navy.

History

The Naval War College was established on 17 September 1988 as the College of Naval Warfare at Karanja in Mumbai. The first Naval Higher Command Course began in 1988, while the first Technical Management Course commenced in 1994. By 2005, the Naval academy was to move from Goa to its new campus in Ezhimala. It was decided that CNW would move into the Naval Academy campus. On 18 August 2010, the CNW was renamed Naval War College and finally shifted to Goa in September 2011.[1]

Courses

The NWC conducts the following courses:

Naval Higher Command Course

This is the flagship course of NWC which runs for around 37 weeks. The course is attended by Indian Armed Forces Officers of the rank of Captain, Colonel and Group Captain.[2]

Regional Maritime Security Course

The Regional Maritime Security Course is conducted over 8 weeks. The course is aimed at Officers of the rank of Colonel, Captain and Group Captain from the maritime security forces of Friendly Foreign Countries, like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Maldives, Oman, etc.[3]

Technical Management Course

The Technical Management Courseis a 22-week course conducted jointly by the NWC and Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai.[4] The course is attended by Naval officers of the rank of Commander.

Accreditations and degrees

The participants of the Naval Higher Command Course receive a Master of Philosophy degree from the University of Mumbai, while the participants of the Technical Management Course receive the Postgraduate diploma from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies.

Other events and programmes

The NWC conducts the Goa Maritime Conclave and Goa Maritime Symposium annually. These events are organised as a regional cooperation and diplomatic forum on maritime subjects. The NWC also has faculty exchange programmes with its counterparts in the United States, Japan, and Myanmar. The Commanders' Conclave is held at the NWC annually and is attended by the Chief of the Naval Staff and the Flag Officers Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command, Eastern Naval Command, Southern Naval Command and the Andaman and Nicobar Command.[5]

Leadership

Commandants

The College of Naval Warfare was headed by a director. The appointment was filled by a Commodore. The appointment was upgraded to two-star rank and re-designated Commandant Naval War College. Rear Admiral R. Hari Kumar, VSM was appointed the first Commandant on 30 January 2012.[6]

The Commandant leads the Senior Directing Staff of the College, who function as the faculty and is assisted by the Deputy Commandant, held by a Commodore.[7]

S.No. Name Assumed office Left office Notes
1 Rear Admiral R. Hari Kumar VSM 30 January 2012 30 January 2014 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[6]
2 Rear Admiral Monty Khanna AVSM, NM 30 January 2014 29 November 2017 [8]
3 Rear Admiral Sandeep Beecha 29 November 2017 18 February 2020 Earlier Flag Officer Commanding Gujarat Naval Area.[9]
4 Rear Admiral Sanjay Jasjit Singh AVSM, NM 18 February 2020 26 February 2021 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.[10]
5 Rear Admiral S. Venkat Raman VSM 26 February 2021 23 May 2022 Later Flag Officer Commanding Tamil Nadu & Puducherry Naval Area.[11]
6 Rear Admiral Rajesh Dhankhar NM 23 May 2022 9 November 2023 Current Director General Project Seabird.[12]
6 Rear Admiral Arjun Dev Nair VSM 20 November 2023 Present Current Commandant.[13]

Deputy Commandants

S.No. Name Assumed office Left office Notes
1 Commodore Srikant Kesnur 31 March 2012 5 July 2013
2 Commodore K. G. Vishwanathan VSM 21 August 2013 24 March 2015
3 Commodore V. R. Peshwae 25 March 2015 22 February 2016
4 Commodore Shiv Tewari 23 February 2016 24 July 2016
5 Commodore Ashok Rai 25 July 2016 26 May 2019
6 Commodore Gurcharan Singh NM 16 July 2019 8 January 2021 Current Chief of Personnel.
7 Commodore Nitin Kapoor 9 January 2021 30 April 2023
7 Commodore Prashant Chandrasekharan 1 May 2023 12 September 2025
8 Commodore P. Sasi Kumar 13 September 2025 Present

See also

References