Kaleem Saadat
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| Kaleem Saadat | |
|---|---|
| born December 12, 1951 (age 56) | |
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| Allegiance |  Pakistan |
| Service/branch | Pakistan Air Force |
| Years of service | 1971-2006 |
| Rank | Air Chief Marshal |
| Commands held | Base Commander Peshawar Airbase Chief Instructor NDC DCAS (Operations) DCAS (Personnel) Chief of Air Staff |
| Awards | Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (Military) Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Military) Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military) Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military) |
Air Chief Marshal Kaleem Saadat (born December 12, 1951) is the former chief of air staff of the Pakistan Air Force. He was promoted as the air chief on March 20, 2003, when the previous air chief Mushaf Ali Mir died in a tragic air crash along with several other high-ranking Air Force officers on February 19, 2003.
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[edit] Initial military training
Air Chief Marshal Kaleem Saadat is a graduate of PAF Public School, Sargodha.[1] He was commissioned in the Pakistan Air Force in March 1971, and he has qualified Flying Instructors' Course, Combat Commanders' Course, PAF Air War Course, French Inter Services War Course, and National Defence Course. During his Air Force career, he commanded a fighter squadron, a fighters’ wing, and PAF Base Peshawar.
[edit] Staff assignments
Kaleem Saadat was also assistant commandant of the College of Flying Training at PAF Academy, Risalpur. His staff and instructional appointments include director of plans, chief instructor at the National Defence College, Islamabad, and deputy chief of air staff (operations). His foreign tours include: Exchange Pilot in Turkey(1977-78); Deputation to Algeria(1980-83); War Course at The Ecole Militaire,Paris, France (1989-90) He has qualified the Flying Instructors' Course from Risalpur; Staff College and Air War Course from Air War College PAF;L'ESGI and CSI from the Ecole Militaire in France; National Defence Course from the NDU, Islamabad.
[edit] PAF Air Chief
[edit] Death of then Air Chief Mushaf Ali Mir
On February 20, 2003, the then PAF Chief Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir died in a plane crash when the Fokker he along with his wife and fifteen other high ranking officers were flying in crashed near Kohat in northwestern Pakistan, killing all the passengers on board. Thereafter, the then vice chief Air Marshal Qaiser Hussain was made the acting Air Chief of PAF. On March 19, 2003, then Air Marshal Kaleem Saadat was chosen over Hussain as the new chief of Pakistan Air Force. At the time of promotion, Kaleem Saadat was the deputy chief of air staff (operations) at the Air Headquarters.
[edit] Achievements
The JF-17 Thunder program under Kaleem Saadat was throttled into full gear. It was during this time, the aircraft prototype was unveiled and it flew some hours, with the semi-production being started in 2005. The Air Headquuarters were shifted to its permanent location in Islamabad after having stayed in Karachi ,Peshawar and Rawalpindi. The PAF achieved its best Flight Safety record of its history when in the Year 2004,it had the lowest major aircraft accident rate.The PAF had the largest ever flying operations Exercise Highmark 2005 after nearly ten years' gap as well as holding its first ever tri-service wargame titled Tempest-I. In the history of Pakistan Air Force, women were inducted and commissioned as pilots for the first time.New equipment like fighters, transport aeroplanes,trainer aircraft,radars, simulatorsetc were inducted during his tenure.
[edit] Retirement
In March 2006, ACM Kaleem Saadat's three year term expired and he was replaced by the then vice chief of air staff Air Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed as the air chief.[2]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Mushaf Ali Mir |
Chief of Air Staff (PAF) 2003-2006 |
Succeeded by Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed |
