Alok Ananda
Alok Ananda[Shivalik-class frigate|], YSM is a serving Flag officer in the Indian Navy. He currently serves as the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet.
Naval career
Ananda attended the Naval Academy, Goa and was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 1 July 1993. He completed his Midshipman training onboard the aircraft carrier, where he was awarded the Gold Medal for his outstanding performance. He specialised in Navigation and Direction and served as the Navigation officer of four warships. His first command was the Kumbhir-class tank landing ship. During his tenure, Ghorpad was awarded the Best Landing Ship trophy. He also served as an instructor at the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla.Ananda attended the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington where he was awarded the Scudder Medal for standing first overall in the staff course. He subsequently served as the Joint Director at naval headquarters. Back at sea, he served as the executive officer of the Rajput-class destroyer. During this tenure, "Ranvijay" was awarded the Best Ship Trophy. He served as an instructor at his alma maters, the Navigation and Direction school at Kochi and the DSSC.
As a Captain, Ananda served as Captain at NHQ. During his tenure as Captain, he oversaw the successful conduct of Operation Raahat in Yemen. On 26 January 2016, he was awarded the Yudh Seva Medal. He then attended the National Defence College of Thailand where he was awarded prize for the Best Research Paper. Ananda subsequently served as Captain, also at NHQ. In the rank of Commodore, he also served as Commodore at NHQ.
In 2018, Ananda took command of the
Shivalik-class multi-role frigate. In September 2018, Commander Abhilash Tomy suffered an accident while participating in the 2018 Golden Globe Race. He was caught in a violent storm in the Southern Indian Ocean where his yacht Thuriya was dismasted and he suffered a severe injury to his spine. A multinational rescue effort was launched. Satpura was on an operational deployment and was diverted for the search and rescue mission christened Operation Raksham. Ananda had just received the news of his father's passing and chose not to go home for the rituals and proceeded with the SAR mission. Satpura, after fuelling from the fleet tanker INS Jyoti which was also despatched for the mission, arrived off Ile Amsterdam and safely evacuated Tomy using the ship’s helicopter on 28 September. The ship brought Tomy safely to Visakhapatnam on 6 October. During Ananda's command tenure, Satpura was adjudged the Best Ship of the Eastern Fleet for its exceptional performance and high operational tempo.