Chief of the Air Staff (India)

Chief of the Air Staff
	Flag of the Chief of the Air Staff
	Incumbent; Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, ; PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC; since 30 September 2019
	Indian Air Force
Abbreviation	CAS
Member of	National Security Council
Seat	Central Secretariat
Appointer	Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC)
Term length	3 years or at the age of 62, whichever is earlier.
Constituting instrument	Air Force Act, 1950 (Act No. 45 of 1950)
Precursor	Air Marshal Commanding, Royal Indian Air Force
Formation	26 January 1950
First holder	Air Marshal Sir Thomas Elmhirst
Deputy	Vice Chief of Air Staff
Salary	₹250,000 (US$3,500) monthly[1][2]
Website	Official website

Chief of the Air Staff is the professional head and the commander of the Indian Air Force.[3] The position is abbreviated as CAS in the Indian Air Force cables and communication, and is always held by a full Air Chief Marshal since 1966.

The current CAS is Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria who took office on 30 September 2019, following the retirement of Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa.[4]

Office of the Chief of Air Staff

At Independence, the head of the Air Force designated as the "Air Marshal Commanding, Royal Indian Air Force". On 1 March 1948, the title of "Chief of the Air Staff" was added,[5] with a further re-designation to "Chief of the Air Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Air Force" on 21 June to maintain uniformity across the three armed services.[6]

The "Royal" designation was dropped when India became a republic on 26 January 1950. Thus re-designating the head of IAF to "Chief of the Air Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Indian Air Force".

The Commanders-In-Chief (Change in Designation) Act, 1955 re-designated the head of IAF to "Chief of Air Staff". The position was held by a three-star ranked Air Marshal until 1966, when the position was upgraded to the four-star rank of an Air Chief Marshal.

Appointments to the office are made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC). The CAS reaches superannuation upon three years in the office or at the age of 62, whichever is earlier.

Appointees

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.[7]

(**Seconded from the Royal Air Force)

Air Marshal Commanding, Royal Indian Air Force (1947–1948)

No.		Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Elmhirst, ThomasAir Marshal Sir Thomas Elmhirst CB, KBE, AFC (1895–1982) [lower-alpha 1]	15 August 1947	1 March 1948	199 days

Chief of the Air Staff and Air Marshal Commanding, Royal Indian Air Force (1948)

No.		Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Elmhirst, ThomasAir Marshal Sir Thomas Elmhirst CB, KBE, AFC (1895–1982) [lower-alpha 1]	1 March 1948	21 June 1948	112 days

Chief of the Air Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Air Force (1948–1950)

No.		Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Elmhirst, ThomasAir Marshal Sir Thomas Elmhirst CB, KBE, AFC (1895–1982) [lower-alpha 1]	21 June 1948	25 January 1950	1 year, 218 days

Chief of the Air Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Indian Air Force (1950–1955)

No.	Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1	Elmhirst, ThomasAir Marshal Sir Thomas Elmhirst CB, KBE, AFC (1895–1982) [lower-alpha 1][8]	26 January 1950	23 February 1950	28 days
2	Ivelaw-Chapman, RonaldAir Marshal Sir Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman GCB, KBE, DFC, AFC (1899–1978) [lower-alpha 1]	23 February 1950	9 December 1951	1 year, 289 days
3	Gibbs, GeraldAir Marshal Sir Gerald Ernest Gibbs KBE, CIE, MC & Two Bars (1896–1992) [lower-alpha 1]	10 December 1951	31 March 1954	2 years, 111 days
4	Mukerjee, SubrotoAir Marshal Subroto Mukerjee OBE (1911–1960)	1 April 1954	31 March 1955	1 year, 0 days

Chief of the Air Staff (1955–present)

No.	Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office
4	Mukerjee, SubrotoAir Marshal Subroto Mukerjee OBE (1911–1960)	1 April 1955	8 November 1960 †	5 years, 221 days
5	Engineer, AspyAir Marshal Aspy Merwan Engineer DFC (1912–2002)	1 December 1960	31 July 1964	3 years, 243 days
6	Singh, ArjanMarshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh DFC (1919–2017)	1 August 1964	15 July 1969	4 years, 348 days
7	Lal, PratapAir Chief Marshal Pratap Chandra Lal DFC (1916–1982)	16 July 1969	15 January 1973	3 years, 184 days
8	Mehra, OmAir Chief Marshal Om Prakash Mehra PVSM (1919–2015)	16 January 1973	31 January 1976	3 years, 15 days
9	Moolgavkar, HrushikeshAir Chief Marshal Hrushikesh Moolgavkar PVSM, MVC (1920–2015)	1 February 1976	30 August 1978	2 years, 241 days
10	Latif, IdrisAir Chief Marshal Idris Hasan Latif PVSM (1923–2018)	1 September 1978	30 August 1981	3 years, 29 days
11	Singh, DilbaghAir Chief Marshal Dilbagh Singh PVSM, AVSM, VM (1926–2001)	1 September 1981	3 September 1984	3 years, 2 days
12	Katre, LakshmanAir Chief Marshal Lakshman Madhav Katre PVSM, AVSM (1926–1985)	3 September 1984	1 July 1985 †	301 days
13	Fontaine, DenisAir Chief Marshal Denis Anthony La Fontaine PVSM, AVSM, VM (1929–2011)	3 July 1985	31 July 1988	3 years, 28 days
14	Mehra, SurinderAir Chief Marshal Surinder Kumar Mehra PVSM, AVSM, VM (1932–2003)	1 August 1988	31 July 1991	2 years, 364 days
15	Suri, NirmalAir Chief Marshal Nirmal Chandra Suri PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC (born 1933)	31 July 1991	31 July 1993	2 years, 0 days
16	Kaul, SwaroopAir Chief Marshal Swaroop Krishna Kaul PVSM, MVC, ADC (born 1935)	1 August 1993	31 December 1995	2 years, 152 days
17	Sareen, SatishAir Chief Marshal Satish Kumar Sareen PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC (born 1939)	31 December 1995	31 December 1998	3 years, 0 days
18	Tipnis, AnilAir Chief Marshal Anil Yashwant Tipnis PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC (born 1940)	31 December 1998	31 December 2001	3 years, 0 days
19	Krishnaswamy, SrinivasapuramAir Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy PVSM, AVSM, VM (born 1943)	31 December 2001	31 December 2004	3 years, 0 days
20	Tyagi, ShashindraAir Chief Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC (born 1945)	31 December 2004	31 March 2007	2 years, 90 days
21	Major, FaliAir Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major PVSM, AVSM, SC, VM, ADC (born 1947)	31 March 2007	31 May 2009	2 years, 61 days
22	Naik, PradeepAir Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik PVSM, VSM, ADC (born 1949)	31 May 2009	31 July 2011	2 years, 61 days
23	Browne, NormanAir Chief Marshal Norman Anil Kumar Browne PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC (born 1951)	31 July 2011	31 December 2013	2 years, 153 days
24	Raha, ArupAir Chief Marshal Arup Raha PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC (born 1954)	31 December 2013	31 December 2016	3 years, 0 days
25	Dhanoa, BirenderAir Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa PVSM, AVSM, YSM, VM, ADC (born 1957)	31 December 2016	30 September 2019	2 years, 273 days
26	Bhadauria, RakeshAir Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC (born 1959)	30 September 2019	Incumbent	267 days

Notes

Seconded from the Royal Air Force

References

"Report of the 7th Central Pay Commission of India" (PDF). Seventh Central Pay Commission, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
Biswas, Shreya, ed. (29 June 2016). "7th Pay Commission cleared: What is the Pay Commission? How does it affect salaries?". India Today. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
"Ex-Chiefs Gallery". Indian Air Force. Archived from the original on 3 April 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
@IAF_MCC (30 September 2019). "Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, took over as 26th Chief of the Indian Air Force today. He was commissioned into the fighter stream of IAF in Jun 1980" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
"Press Communique" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 28 February 1948. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
"Press Communique" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 21 June 1948. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
"Chiefs of Air Staff". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
Chiefs of the Indian Air Force 1947 to Present Archived 26 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine

Chiefs of the Indian Air Force

External links

"Chief of The Air Staff". Indian Air Force. Archived from the original on 17 February 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2014.

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[RAF-8] Seconded from the Royal Air Force

[7_Pay_Commission_Report-1] "Report of the 7th Central Pay Commission of India" (PDF). Seventh Central Pay Commission, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2017.

[:India_Today_7CPC-2] Biswas, Shreya, ed. (29 June 2016). "7th Pay Commission cleared: What is the Pay Commission? How does it affect salaries?". India Today. Retrieved 24 September 2017.

[3] "Ex-Chiefs Gallery". Indian Air Force. Archived from the original on 3 April 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.

[4] @IAF_MCC (30 September 2019). "Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, took over as 26th Chief of the Indian Air Force today. He was commissioned into the fighter stream of IAF in Jun 1980" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

[5] "Press Communique" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 28 February 1948. Retrieved 16 February 2020.

[6] "Press Communique" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 21 June 1948. Retrieved 16 February 2020.

[br-airchiefs-7] "Chiefs of Air Staff". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2014.

[9] Chiefs of the Indian Air Force 1947 to Present Archived 26 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine