V.S. Pathania took over as the 24th Director General (DG) of the Indian Coast Guard on December 31 from Krishnaswamy Natarajan who retired from service.
“The Flag Officer is an alumni of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, and the National Defence College, New Delhi. He is a qualified helicopter pilot and holds a master’s degree in defence & strategic studies from the University of Madras,” the Coast Guard said. “He has also undergone specialisation in search and rescue and port operations with U.S. Coast Guard.”
In a career of over 36 years, Mr. Pathania has held several key appointments afloat and ashore and has also commanded all classes of Coast Guard ships namely Inshore Patrol Vessel ‘Ranijindan’, Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) ‘Vigraha’ and advanced OPV ‘Sarang’, it said. He was elevated to the rank of Additional Director General in November 2019 and took over as Coast Guard Commander (Eastern Seaboard) at Visakhapatnam.
Mr. Pathania is the recipient of President’s Tatrakshak Medal for Distinguished service, Tatrakshak Medal for gallantry and DG Coast Guard Commendation.
