Chief of Air Staff (India)

Flag of the Chief of Air Staff of India

The head of the Indian Air Force is known as the Chief of the Air Staff (currently Air Chief Marshal Norman Anil Kumar Browne). 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 1965, 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 Arjan Singh. The rank is equal to five star General and a Field Marshal in the Army.

Air Chiefs (1919-1947)

The following list includes not only those officers who held the appointment of Chief of the Air Staff, but also the preceding commanders of the Indian Air Force.

Commander, Indian Group (1919-1922)

• 1919-1922 Air Commodore (later Air Vice-Marshal) Tom Webb-Bowen CB, CMG

Air Officer Commanding RAF, India (1922-1938)

• 1922: Air Commodore (later Air Vice-Marshal) Tom Webb-Bowen CB, CMG
• 1922 - 1923 Air Vice-Marshal Philip Game CB, DSO
• 1923 - 1926 Air Vice-Marshal (later Marshal of the Royal Air Force) Sir Edward Leonard Ellington KCB, CMG, CBE
• 1926 - 1931 Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal) Sir Geoffrey Salmond KCB, KCMG, DSO
• 1931 - 1935 Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal) Sir John Steel KCB, KBE, CMG
• 1935 - 1937 Air Marshal, (later Air Chief Marshal) Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt KCB, CMG, DSO, MC
• 1937 - 1938 Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal) Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté KCB, CMG, DSO

Air Officer Commanding Air Forces in India (1938-1945)

• 1938 - 1939 Air Marshal, (later Air Chief Marshal) Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté KCB, CMG, DSO
• 1939 - 1940 Air Marshal Sir John Higgins KCB, KBE, DSO, AFC
• 1940 - 1942 Air Marshal Sir Patrick Playfair KBE, CB, CVO, MC
• 1942 - 1943 Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal) Sir Richard Pierse KCB, DSO, AFC
• 1943 - 1944 Air Marshal, later Air Chief Marshal Sir Guy Garrod KCB, OBE, MC, DFC
• 1944 - 1945 Air Vice-Marshal M Thomas CSI, CBE, DFC, AFC

Air Officer Commanding, Royal Indian Air Force (1945-1947)

• 1945-1946 Air Vice-Marshal M Thomas CSI, CBE, DFC, AFC
• 1946 Air Marshal Sir Roderick Carr KBE, CB, DFC, AFC
• 1946 - 1947 Air Marshal Sir Hugh Walmsley KCIE, CBE, MC, DFC (Last commander of the unified RIAF before partition)

(On 15 August 1947, the unified RIAF was separated into the Royal Indian Air Force and the Royal Pakistan Air Force)

Air Chiefs (1947-present)

Air Officer Commanding, Royal Indian Air Force (1947-1948)

• 1947 - 1948 Air Marshal Sir Thomas Elmhirst KBE, CB, AFC

Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Air Force (1948-1950)

• 1948-1950 Air Marshal Sir Thomas Elmhirst KBE, CB, AFC

Commander-in-Chief, Indian Air Force (1950-1955)

• 1950 - 1951 Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal) Sir Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman KBE, CB, DFC, AFC
• 1951 - 1954 Air Marshal Sir Gerald Gibbs KBE, CIE, MC & Bar
• 1954 - 1955 Air Marshal Subroto Mukherjee OBE

Chief of the Air Staff (1955-present)

• 1955 - 1960 Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee OBE
• 1960 - 1963 Air Marshal Aspy Engineer DFC
• 1964 - 1969 Air Chief Marshal (later Marshal of the Indian Air Force) Arjan Singh DFC
• 1969 - 1973 Air Chief Marshal Pratap Chandra Lal Padma Bhushan, DFC
• 1973 - 1976 Air Chief Marshal Om Prakash Mehra PVSM
• 1976 - 1978 Air Chief Marshal Hrushikesh Moolgavkar PVSM
• 1978 - 1981 Air Chief Marshal Idris Latif PVSM
• 1981 - 1984 Air Chief Marshal Dilbagh Singh PVSM, AVSM, VM
• 1984 - 1985 Air Chief Marshal Lakshman Katre PVSM, AVSM
• 1985 - 1988 Air Chief Marshal Denis La Fontaine PVSM, AVSM, VSM
• 1988 - 1991 Air Chief Marshal Surinder Mehra PVSM
• 1991 - 1993 Air Chief Marshal Nirmal Chandra Suri PVSM, AVSM, VM
• 1993 - 1995 Air Chief Marshal Swaroop Kaul PVSM, MVC
• 1995 - 1998 Air Chief Marshal Satish Sareen PVSM
• 1998 - 2001 Air Chief Marshal Anil Tipnis PVSM, AVSM, VM
• 2001 - 2004 Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy PVSM, AVSM, VM & Bar
• 2004 - 2007 Air Chief Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi PVSM, AVSM, VM
• 2007 - 2009 Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major PVSM, AVSM, VM, SrC
• 2009 - 2011 Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik PVSM, VSM
• 2011 - Air Chief Marshal Norman Anil Kumar Browne PVSM, VM

Marshal of the Air Force

Only once has this rank ever been given:

• Arjan Singh - Marshal of the Air Force in January, 2002 (the highest rank ever given in the history of the Indian Air force). It is equal to a five star General a Field Marshal in an Army.

References

• Chiefs of the Indian Air Force
• Chiefs of the Indian Air Force 1931 to 1947

See also

• Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army
• Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy
• Chief of the Air Staff (disambiguation)