Jagjit Singh Bedi

Bedi was born in Nabha on 25 April 1949. His father and grandfather both served the Nabha State. His grandfather was the Revenue Minister of the state. His father was a commissioned officer in the Nabha Akal Regiment of the Nabha States Forces. After the Independence of India, the regiment became the 14th battalion, Punjab Regiment.^[1]

Bedi attended the Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, New Delhi. When the Punjab Public School, Nabha was established in 1960, he joined the first batch of the school. He subsequently joined the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla in 1965.^[1]

Bedi was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 1 July 1969. After a few sea tenures, he opted to specialise in Signal communication and electronic warfare. As a young Lieutenant, he commanded the Ajay-class Seaward Defence Boat INS Atul. He also commanded the Pondicherry-class minesweeper INS Bedi. He was selected to attend the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, where he completed his staff course.^[2] He served as the Staff Officer to the Deputy and Vice Chief of the Naval Staff. As a commander, he commanded the Nilgiri-class frigate INS Udaygiri (F35). He also served as the deputy director (Electronic Warfare) at naval headquarters. In the late 80s, he was appointed Chief Instructor and Officer-in-Charge of the Signals School, his alma-mater, in Kochi. In 1990, he attended the Naval War College in Rhode Island.

In December 1991, Bedi took over as the Commanding Officer of the naval base in Goa, INS Mandovi. He concurrently served as the Commandant of Indian Naval Academy. The academy moved to its present location, Ezhimala, in 2008.^[3] In the rank of Captain, Bedi served as the Directing Staff at the College of Naval Warfare and as the Director of Naval Plans at NHQ. He also commanded the Rajput-class guided missile destroyer INS Ranjit (D53). On 26 January 1994, he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal.^[4] Later that year, in September, Bedi took command of the aircraft carrier INS Viraat (R22). He was the 6th Commanding Officer of Viraat.^[5]

In 1996, Bedi was promoted to the rank of acting Rear Admiral and appointed Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Plans & Policy) at NHQ. He subsequently took over as the Chief of Staff (COS), Western Naval Command. He served in this appointment during Operation Rainbow. He was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal on 26 January 1999.^[6]

On 10 September 2001, Bedi was appointed Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (FOCWF). He took command of the Western Fleet, from Rear Admiral Sangram Singh Byce. In December 2001, after the attack on Indian Parliament, the armed forces were put on high alert as part of Operation Parakram. The Western Fleet ships were deployed. During the operation, Karachi harbour was virtually blocked and entire Makran coast was under constant surveillance. For his command of the Western Fleet during the hostilities, Bedi was awarded the Uttam Yudh Seva Medal. In January 2003, he relinquished command of the fleet.^[7]

Bedi was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral and moved to NHQ as the Controller Warship Production and Acquisition (CWP&A). The CWP&A integrates and coordinates the various activities of shipbuilding and ship acquisition at NHQ.^[8][9]

On 27 December 2005, Bedi was appointed Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. After a short stint as DCNS, he was promoted to Commander-in-Chief grade and appointed Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command (FOC-in-C SNC), succeeding Vice Admiral S. C. S. Bangara in July 2006.^[10] He was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal on 26 January 2007.^[11][12] He served as FOC-in-C SNC for a year. On 1 August 2007, he took over the Western Naval Command (WNC) as the Commander-in-Chief. He was at the helm of WNC for close to two years. He superannuated on 30 April 2009, after 40 years of service, and handed over command to Vice Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin.^[13][14][15]

Bedi married Kanwal Bedi in 1975. The couple has two daughters.^[1]

• Hiranandani, G M (2005), Transition to eminence : the Indian navy 1976-1990, Lancer Publishers, ISBN 978-8170622666