Chief of Air Staff (India)

Indian Air Force

Headquarters

Nabha Sparsham Deeptam "Touch the Sky with Glory"
New Delhi
History and traditions
History of the Indian Air Force (established 8 October 1932)
Personnel
Marshal of the Indian Air Force Chief of the Air Staff Indian Air Force ranks and insignia
Aircraft
Aircraft of the Indian Air Force
Installations
Bases

The head of the Indian Air Force is known as the Chief of the Air Staff (currently Air Chief Marshal Norman Anil Kumar Browne)^[1]. 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.

1 Air Chiefs (1919-1947)
2 Air Chiefs (1947-present)
3 References
4 See also

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 Sir Tom Webb-Bowen

Air Officer Commanding RAF, India (1922-1938)

1922: Air Commodore, later Air Vice-Marshal Sir Tom Webb-Bowen
1922 - 1923 Air Vice-Marshal Sir Philip Game
1923 - 1926 Air Vice-Marshal, later Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Edward Leonard Ellington
1926 - 1931 Air Marshal, later Air Chief Marshal Sir Geoffrey Salmond
1931 - 1935 Air Vice-Marshal, later Air Chief Marshal Sir John Steel
1935 - 1937 Air Marshal, later Air Chief Marshal Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt
1937 - 1938 Air Marshal, later Air Chief Marshal Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté

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

1938 - 1939 Air Marshal, later Air Chief Marshal Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté
1939 - 1940 Air Marshal Sir John Higgins
1940 - 1942 Air Marshal Sir Patrick Playfair
1942 - 1943 Air Marshal, later Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Pierse
1943 - 1944 Air Marshal, later Air Chief Marshal Sir Guy Garrod (Deputy Air Officer Commanding in Chief)
1944 - 1945 Air Vice-Marshal M Thomas

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

1945-1946 Air Vice-Marshal M Thomas
1946 Air Marshal Sir Roderick Carr
1946 - 1947 Air Marshal Sir Hugh Walmsley (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 ThomasElmhirst

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

1948-1950 Air Marshal Sir Thomas Elmhirst

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

1950 - 1951 Air Marshal, later Air Chief Marshal Sir Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman
1951 - 1954 Air Marshal Sir Gerald Gibbs
1954 - 1955 Air Marshal Subroto Mukherjee

Chief of the Air Staff (1955-present)

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

Air Marshal N A K Browne replaced Naik on 31 July 2011.^[2]

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.