New Commanders for Southern Command of Indian Navya and Air force

Kochi (Kerala), Aug 31(ANI): The southern commands of the Indian Navy and Air Force based in Kerala were assigned new commanding heads on Monday.

Vice Admiral KN Sushil took over as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Naval Command (SNC) from Vice Admiral SK Damle at a ceremonial parade held at the naval base in Kochi.

Commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1973, Admiral KN Sushil joined the submarine arm in 1976 and has served on both the Vela class and the Shishumar class submarines.

Air Marshal Sumit Mukerjee will be the new Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Air Command and will assume charge on September 1, 2009.

Prior to this, Air Marshal Mukerjee was the Air Officer-in-Charge Personnel at Air Headquarters in New Delhi.

He is the only pilot in the history of IAF to have commanded units with the Mig-21, Mig-23U, Mig-25, Mig-27 and Mig-29 aircraft.

Air Marshal Sumit Mukerjee was commissioned into the fighter stream of the IAF on January 22, 1972. By Juhan Samuel (ANI)