Early career Prakash was commissioned into the Indian Navy as an acting sub-lieutenant on 1 January 1966. He volunteered for
naval aviation and received flying training from the
Indian Air Force (IAF) at
Air Force Station Bamrauli. After receiving his 'wings' in 1968, he joined
INAS 551 for conversion to
Hawker Sea Hawk jet fighter aircraft. He subsequently joined the
White Tigers INAS 300 and qualified deck landing on the
aircraft carrier . He also flew the
Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander aircraft with
INAS 550 and the
Vampire and
Kiran aircraft with
INAS 551. Subsequently, Prakash was one of two naval pilots deputed to the IAF and trained on the
Hawker Hunter aircraft at
Jamnagar Air Force Station. After training, he joined the
20th Squadron Lightnings at
Hindon Air Force Station. Before the outbreak of the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, the squadron moved to
Pathankot Air Force Station.
Manmohan Singh onboard .
Post-War After the war, Prakash served afloat in
INS Vikrant (1961), , and
INS Delhi on which he received his watch keeping ticket. Promoted to
lieutenant commander on 1 May 1976, he flew the
Super Constellation that year for maritime air reconnaissance with
Indian Navy Air Squadron 312. In 1978, he was appointed commanding officer of the
Chamak-class missile boat . The following year, he was selected to attend the staff course at the
Defence Services Staff College,
Wellington. In December 1979, he took over as the squadron commander of
INAS 300, serving till May 1980. He was promoted to the rank of
commander on 1 July 1980. After the short tenure as 'Tiger Leader', he was appointed commanding officer of the training frigate , on which young midshipmen were trained. In November 1979, India placed its first order for six
British Aerospace Sea Harrier FRS Mk 51 fighters and two T Mk 60 Trainers. Prakash was selected by the
CNS Admiral R. H. Tahiliani to induct the Sea Harriers into the Navy. He took command of INAS 300 for the second time in July 1981. He supervised the training of Indian Navy crew members in the
United Kingdom for the Sea Harrier and ferried the newly acquired aircraft back to India in 1983. He was promoted to
captain on 1 July 1986. In his aviation assignments, he logged more than 2,500 hours in the air in single and multi-engined, shore-based and carrier-based aircraft. He then took over as captain (air) of the
naval air station INS Hansa and subsequently as commanding officer.
Flag rank After serving as NA for a year, on 4 January 1993, Prakash was promoted to the rank of
rear admiral and appointed assistant chief of Naval Staff (Air) (ACNS Air). On 1 April 1995, after a two-year stint as ACNS, he was appointed the 21st
flag officer commanding Eastern Fleet. He was in command of the
Eastern Fleet for about a year and a half. In late 1996, he moved to Naval HQ as assistant chief of personnel (ACOP). &
CNS Adm Arun Prakash with
CNO Adm Vern Clark in Washington, D.C. He was then promoted to the rank of
vice admiral on 31 July 1997, and took over as the
commandant of the National Defence Academy, an appointment he served in till 19 March 1999. He then moved to NHQ, having been appointed
chief of personnel. In October 2001, he became the first
commander-in-chief of the newly established
Andaman and Nicobar Command. Then, on 31 December 2002, he took over as the flag officer commanding-in-chief (FOC-in-C)
Western Naval Command. Following this assignment, he was appointed the
vice chief of Naval Staff, serving for a brief period from October 2003 to July 2004.
Chief of Naval Staff Prakash was promoted to full
admiral and was appointed the 20th
chief of Naval Staff on 31 July 2004. With the retirement of
General Nirmal Chander Vij, Admiral Prakash took over as the
chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee on 31 January 2005. While serving as chief of Naval Staff, Prakash played an important role in renewing the
Indian Navy's relationships with the
United States Navy and in developing a vision of India's maritime strategy. Prakash retired as chief of Naval Staff in October 2006. He retired from the post of chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee at the same time. ==Post-retirement==