Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Shanti Sethi, U.S. Navy

In December 2010, Shanti Sethi achieved a notable milestone when she became the first woman of Indian descent to command a major. U.S. Navy combat ship. This vessel was USS Decatur (DDG-73), and Sethi served as her commanding officer until May 2012.  

Sethi started out life in the city of Reno, Nevada. Her father had immigrated to the United States from India; her mother was born in Canada and became a naturalized American citizen at the age of 12. Sethi graduated from Norwich University in 1993 with a B.A. in international studies. Her subsequent academic achievements have included earning a master’s degree in international policy and practice from George Washington University in 2006.

Sethi’s interest in military service first took shape during her teenage years. While initially planning to enlist in the U.S. Army, she ultimately joined the Navy in 1993. Sethi assumed her pioneering role as commander of Decatur after being stationed on various other ships — one of these was USS Hopper (DDG-70) — and at several naval shore installations. During her time on board Decatur, she made history yet again as the first female commander of a U.S. Navy ship to visit India.

The awards that Sethi received during her military service included the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, and the Navy Achievement Medal. She retired from the Navy in 2022. In a 2025 interview with the news organization India Currents, she discussed her time in this military branch. “My heart is still on the ocean at sunset,” Sethi remarked during this interview. “I don’t think anything I’ve seen beats that.”

In a 2021 interview with USA Today, Sethi highlighted what she learned during her longstanding tour of duty in the Navy. “You can’t be what somebody else thinks you should be,” she asserted. “You really have to become comfortable in yourself and say, ‘This is who I am, and I can succeed as who I am. I don’t have to pretend or try to be someone else.’”

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on Shanti Sethi, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanti_Sethi