Vice Admiral Vineet McCarty takes charge as Commander-in-Chief of Andaman & Nicobar Command
New Delhi, June 1. Vice Admiral Vineet McCarty on June 1 assumed charge as the 20th Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC), India’s only integrated tri-service operational command, at Sri Vijaya Puram.
Commissioned into the Indian Navy on July 1, 1989, Vice Admiral McCarty is a specialist in gunnery and missile warfare and brings with him more than 36 years of experience across operational, training, staff and joint-service assignments.
An alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College and the National Defence College, the Flag Officer has held a wide range of command and staff appointments during his distinguished naval career.
His operational sea service includes being part of the commissioning crew of INS Delhi, where he subsequently completed all specialist appointments. He went on to command several frontline warships, including INS Ajay, INS Khanjar and INS Shivalik.
Vice Admiral McCarty has also served in a number of key planning and training roles. These include appointments as Training Commander at the Indian Naval Academy, Command Plans Officer at Headquarters Eastern Naval Command, and Commodore Naval Plans at Naval Headquarters.
Following his promotion to Flag rank in 2020, he held several senior leadership positions, including Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Staff Requirements), Controller of Personnel Services and Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet. In 2024, he became the tenth Commandant of the Indian Naval Academy.
Before assuming his current appointment, the officer served in two successive tri-service assignments at Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff as Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Policy, Plans and Force Development) and later as Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Doctrine, Organisation and Training) during 2025-26.
His international experience includes serving as Directing Staff at the Naval and Maritime Academy in Sri Lanka and as Defence Adviser to Singapore and the Philippines concurrently between 2011 and 2015.
After taking over as Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command, Vice Admiral McCarty highlighted the strategic importance of the command in protecting India’s maritime interests and contributing to security and stability across the Indian Ocean Region.
He reaffirmed his commitment to enhancing operational readiness, strengthening jointness among the Army, Navy and Air Force, and further reinforcing the role of the Andaman and Nicobar Command as a key pillar of India’s national security architecture in the Indo-Pacific.
Established in 2001, the Andaman and Nicobar Command is India’s first and only tri-service theatre command, bringing together assets of the three armed services under a unified command structure. Its location astride critical sea lanes in the eastern Indian Ocean gives it significant strategic importance in India’s maritime security and Indo-Pacific engagement.
