Surgeon Vice Admiral Arti Sarin Retires after 41 years in Service
New Delhi, August 31, 2026: Surgeon Vice Admiral Arti Sarin, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, the first woman to lead the Armed Forces Medical Services and the highest-ranking woman officer in the history of the Indian Armed Forces, retired on Sunday after more than 40 years in uniform. Her departure closes a career that moved from clinical practice and teaching to hospital command and tri-service medical leadership, and it also marks the handover of the military’s top medical post to Air Marshal Sandeep Thareja from Monday, 1 September 2026.
Sarin demitted office as the 46th Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS), the senior-most medical appointment across the Army, Navy and Air Force. The DGAFMS post is responsible for medical policy and coordination for serving personnel, veterans and families across the three services, and reports to the Ministry of Defence and the Chief of Defence Staff.
A career that began in 1985
Her service began on 26 December 1985 and over the decades she became one of the few officers to serve in all three services in different capacities. She rose from Lieutenant to Captain in the Army, from Surgeon Lieutenant to Surgeon Vice Admiral in the Navy, and later held the rank of Air Marshal while heading medical services in the Air Force.
Born into a naval family, Sarin grew up with the armed forces as part of her background. Her father served for 41 years and retired as a Commander, while her brother Rajesh served for about 30 years as a submariner and retired as a Commodore. She studied at Timpany School in Visakhapatnam before joining the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, where she completed her MBBS.
She later earned an MD in Radiodiagnosis from AFMC in 1992, followed by a DNB in Radiation Oncology from Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai. Her professional training also included Gamma Knife surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, reflecting the precision-based medical work that would later shape much of her thinking on operational medicine.
Speaking to ETV Bharat earlier this month, Sarin said she had not entered college with a plan to reach the top of the military medical hierarchy. “When I entered college, I certainly didn’t think this would be the path I would take. I simply enjoyed what I did and kept moving forward,” she said.
From specialist doctor to command appointments
Sarin’s postings took her across major naval and military medical establishments. She served at INHS Dhanvantari in Port Blair, INHS Kalyani in Visakhapatnam, INHS Sanjivani in Kochi and INHS Asvini in Mumbai. She also served as Principal Medical Officer at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.
Her academic and clinical responsibilities included heading Radiation Oncology at Army Hospital (Research & Referral), Delhi; Command Hospital (Southern Command), Pune; AFMC; and INHS Asvini. She also examined for the National Board of Examinations and taught at universities in Mumbai and Pune.
Command roles followed. During the COVID-19 years, she served as Command Medical Officer, Southern Naval Command, becoming the second woman to hold that post. The command had to create quarantine facilities and find improvised solutions under severe pressure during the pandemic.
In January 2021, she took over INHS Asvini from Surgeon Rear Admiral Sheila S. Mathai in a rare handover between two women flag officers. She later served as Command Medical Officer, Western Naval Command.
On 5 October 2022, Sarin was promoted Surgeon Vice Admiral, becoming only the sixth woman in the Indian Armed Forces to reach three-star rank and the third woman Vice Admiral in the Navy, after Punita Arora and Sheila S. Mathai. She then returned to her alma mater as Director and Commandant of AFMC, succeeding Lieutenant General Rajshree Ramasethu.
Her next appointments came quickly. In January 2023, she became Director General Medical Services (Air) in the rank of Air Marshal, and in March 2023 she moved to Director General Medical Services (Navy).
The first woman to lead the tri-service medical system
On 1 October 2024, Sarin assumed charge as DGAFMS, succeeding Lieutenant General Daljit Singh. The appointment made her the first woman to hold the office and, by rank and appointment, the highest-ranking woman officer the Indian Armed Forces have produced.
As DGAFMS, she frequently spoke about the need for faster casualty evacuation, point-of-care treatment, prolonged field care, and stronger mental as well as physical resilience among service personnel. She also pushed for collaboration with institutions such as the Indian Council of Medical Research, IITs, IISc and DRDO.
Sarin linked the idea of precision medicine to military healthcare, arguing that the same discipline that drew her to Gamma Knife surgery was relevant to operational medicine, where decisions must be made quickly and accurately under pressure. On artificial intelligence, she took a practical view, saying it could be useful in diagnostics and paperwork if it gave doctors more time with patients.
The second wave of COVID-19 remained one of the defining episodes of her tenure and earlier service. Recalling her time as commanding officer of INHS Asvini, she described a 24-hour effort to move a critical oxygen consignment from Jamnagar. “The most remarkable aspect of our response was the human element,” she said.
She was also associated with the Supreme Court’s National Task Force on safe working conditions for doctors. At AFMC, she oversaw academic and research collaborations that contributed to the creation of a Centre for Preventive Oncology and to memoranda with institutions including NIV Pune, Tata Memorial Hospital and IIT Bombay. On 10 August 2026, she paid a farewell visit to AFMC, where the book ABLE, on adolescent behaviour and lifestyle enrichment, was unveiled.
Honours before retirement
President Droupadi Murmu conferred the Param Vishisht Seva Medal on Sarin at the Defence Investiture Ceremony (Phase-II) at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 29 June 2026. She already held the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, awarded in 2024, and the Vishisht Seva Medal, awarded in 2021. Her earlier commendations included one from the Chief of the Naval Staff in 2001, one from a GOC-in-C in 2013 and one from the Chief of the Army Staff in 2017.
On receiving the PVSM, she dedicated it to the wider medical teams she had worked with across the services. “I accept this on behalf of my entire team across all three services, who have worked diligently to provide the highest levels of medical care to our service members, their dependents, and veterans,” she said.
In the weeks before her retirement, Sarin was saluted at a series of farewell events. The Indian Coast Guard hosted one at its New Delhi headquarters on 18 August, attended by Vice Admiral Atul Anand, Additional Secretary in the Department of Military Affairs. Director General Paramesh Sivamani described Sarin and her husband’s service as “an enduring inspiration for future generations.”
A military medical family and her successor
Sarin is married to Surgeon Rear Admiral C. S. Naidu, AVSM, VSM, a hepatobiliary surgeon who served 38 years in the Navy. In 2020, the couple held simultaneous Command Medical Officer appointments in different naval commands — she in the South and he in the East — a first for the service. They have a son.
Her successor, Air Marshal Sandeep Thareja, is an AFMC alumnus commissioned in December 1986 and a gastroenterologist trained at AIIMS New Delhi. He has commanded Military Hospital Pathankot and Command Hospital Lucknow, served as Director and Commandant of AFMC, and, as DGMS (Air), worked on medical preparedness for the Gaganyaan programme and the operationalisation of the BHISHM Cube rapid-response medical system.
Sarin leaves behind more than a record of promotions and appointments. Her career established that the apex of military medicine in India is no longer a post held only by men, and it showed a route through clinical specialisation, hospital command and tri-service administration shaped by what she described as “healing hands” working in difficult and often hostile conditions.
