Chief of the Air Staff (India)
Chief of the Air Staff is the commander and the highest-ranking officer of the Indian Air Force.[1] The position is abbreviated as CAS in the Indian Air Force cables & communication, and is usually held by a four-star officer of the rank Air Chief Marshal. The current CAS is Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha who took office on 31 December 2013 following the retirement of Air Chief Marshal Norman Anil Kumar Browne.[2]
The position was held by an Air Commodore (1919–1923), by an Air Vice-Marshal (1923–1929) and by an Air Marshal (1929–1965). In 1966, the position was upgraded to that of an Air Chief Marshal. The highest rank in the IAF is Marshal of the Air Force, which is conferred by the President of India only in exceptional circumstances. It has only been given once in January 2002 to Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh. This is a five-star rank and is equivalent to a Field Marshal in the Army.
Appointees
Indian Air Chief Marshal
Arup Raha riding in a car having
four stars above its number plate. On zooming this photo, it can be seen that the flag on his car also has
four stars.
Commander, Indian Group (1919–1920)
No. |
Name |
Rank |
Photo |
Appointment Date |
Left Office |
Decorations |
1 | Tom Webb-Bowen | Air Commodore (later Air Vice-Marshal) | | 20 September 1919 | 27 January 1920 | CB, CMG |
Air Officer Commanding RAF, India (1920–1938)
No. |
Name |
Rank |
Photo |
Appointment Date |
Left Office |
Decorations |
1 | Tom Webb-Bowen | Air Commodore (later Air Vice-Marshal) | | 27 January 1920 | 31 December 1922 | CB, CMG |
2 | Philip Game | Air Vice-Marshal | | 31 December 1922 | 5 November 1923 | CB, DSO |
3 | Sir Edward Leonard Ellington | Air Vice-Marshal (later Marshal of the Royal Air Force) | | 5 November 1923 | 27 December 1926 | KCB, CMG, CBE |
4 | Sir Geoffrey Salmond | Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal) | | 27 December 1926 | 6 February 1931 | KCB, KCMG, DSO |
5 | Sir John Miles Steel | Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal) | | 6 February 1931 | 2 March 1935 | KCB, KBE, CMG |
6 | Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt | Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal) | | 2 March 1935 | 29 September 1937 | KCB, CMG, DSO, MC |
7 | Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté | Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal) | | 29 September 1937 | 27 December 1938 | KCB, CMG, DSO |
Air Officer Commander-in-Chief, Air Forces in India (1938–1947)
No. |
Name |
Rank |
Photo |
Appointment Date |
Left Office |
Decorations |
1 | Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté[3] | Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal) | | 27 December 1938 | 6 October 1939 | KCB, CMG, DSO |
2 | Sir John Frederick Andrews Higgins | Air Marshal | | 6 October 1939 | 26 September 1940 | KCB, KBE, DSO, AFC |
3 | Sir Patrick Playfair | Air Marshal | | 26 September 1940 | 6 March 1942 | KBE, CB, CVO, MC |
4 | Sir Richard Peirse | Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal) | | 6 March 1942 | 27 April 1943 | KCB, DSO, AFC |
5 | Sir Guy Garrod | Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal) | | 27 April 1943 | 8 March 1944 | KCB, OBE, MC, DFC |
6 | Meredith Thomas | Air Vice-Marshal | | 8 March 1944 | 1 April 1946 | CSI, CBE, DFC, AFC |
7 | Sir Roderick Carr | Air Marshal | | 1 April 1946 | 22 November 1946 | KBE, CB, DFC, AFC |
8 | Sir Hugh Walmsley | Air Marshal | | 22 November 1946 | 15 August 1947 | KCIE, CBE, MC, DFC |
(On 15 August 1947, the unified RIAF was separated into the Royal Indian Air Force and the Royal Pakistan Air Force)
The following tables chronicle the appointees to the office of the Chief of the Air Staff or its preceding positions since the independence of India.[4]
(**Seconded from the Royal Air Force)
Air Officer Commanding, Royal Indian Air Force (1947–1948)
No. |
Name |
Rank |
Photo |
Appointment Date |
Left Office |
Decorations |
1 | Sir Thomas Elmhirst** | Air Marshal | | 15 August 1947 | 21 June 1948 | KBE, CB, AFC |
Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Air Force (1948–1950)
No. |
Name |
Rank |
Photo |
Appointment Date |
Left Office |
Decorations |
1 | Sir Thomas Elmhirst** | Air Marshal | | 21 June 1948 | 25 January 1950 | KBE, CB, AFC |
Commander-in-Chief, Indian Air Force (1950–1955)
Chief of the Air Staff (1955–present)
No. |
Name |
Rank |
Photo |
Appointment Date |
Left Office |
Decorations |
1 | Subroto Mukerjee | Air Marshal | | 1 April 1955 | 8 November 1960 | OBE |
2 | Aspy Engineer | Air Marshal | | 1 December 1960 | 31 July 1964 | DFC |
3 | Arjan Singh | Air Chief Marshal (later Marshal of the Indian Air Force) | | 1 August 1964 | 15 July 1969 | DFC |
4 | Pratap Chandra Lal | Air Chief Marshal | | 16 July 1969 | 15 January 1973 | Padma Bhushan, DFC |
5 | Om Prakash Mehra | Air Chief Marshal | | 16 January 1973 | 31 January 1976 | PVSM |
6 | Hrushikesh Moolgavkar | Air Chief Marshal | | 1 February 1976 | 31 August 1978 | PVSM |
7 | Idris Latif | Air Chief Marshal | | 1 September 1978 | 31 August 1981 | PVSM |
8 | Dilbagh Singh | Air Chief Marshal | | 1 September 1981 | 3 September 1984 | PVSM, AVSM, VM |
9 | Lakshman Mohan Katre | Air Chief Marshal | | 3 September 1984 | 1 July 1985 | PVSM, AVSM |
10 | Denis Anthony La Fontaine | Air Chief Marshal | | 3 July 1985 | 31 July 1988 | PVSM, AVSM, VSM |
11 | Surinder Mehra | Air Chief Marshal | | 1 August 1988 | 31 July 1991 | PVSM |
12 | Nirmal Chandra Suri | Air Chief Marshal | | 31 July 1991 | 31 July 1993 | PVSM, AVSM, VM |
13 | Swaroop Kaul | Air Chief Marshal | | 1 August 1993 | 31 December 1995 | PVSM, MVC |
14 | Satish Kumar Sareen | Air Chief Marshal | | 31 December 1995 | 31 December 1998 | PVSM, AVSM, VM |
15 | Anil Tipnis | Air Chief Marshal | | 31 December 1998 | 31 December 2001 | PVSM, AVSM, VM |
16 | Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy | Air Chief Marshal | | 31 December 2001 | 31 December 2004 | PVSM, AVSM, VM & Bar |
17 | Shashindra Pal Tyagi | Air Chief Marshal | | 31 December 2004 | 31 March 2007 | PVSM, AVSM, VM |
18 | Fali Homi Major | Air Chief Marshal | | 31 March 2007 | 31 March 2009 | PVSM, AVSM, SC, VM |
19 | Pradeep Vasant Naik | Air Chief Marshal | | 31 March 2009 | 31 July 2011 | PVSM, VSM |
20 | Anil Kumar Browne | Air Chief Marshal | | 31 July 2011 | 31 December 2013 | PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC |
21 | Arup Raha | Air Chief Marshal | | 31 December 2013 | Present | PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC |
Marshal of the Air Force
Only once has this rank ever been given:
See also
References
External links
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