IAF Announces New Top-Level Appointments
The appointments announced by the Indian Air Force are for the positions of Vice Chief of Air Staff, Deputy Chief of Air Staff, AOC-in-C of SWAC, AOC-in-C of EAC, and Director General Air (OPS)
The Indian Air Force announced a slew of new appointments at the top-level on 01 October 2018. The appointments included the positions of Vice Chief of Air Staff, Deputy Chief Of Air Staff, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South Western Air Command (SWAC), Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command (EAC), and Director General Air (OPS).
Air Marshal Anil Khosla PVSM AVSM VM has been appointed as the Vice Chief of Air Staff. Air Marshal Anil is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned in Indian Air Force in Dec 1979. He has over 4000 hours of accident free flying experience mainly on different variants of Jaguar, Mig-21 and Kiran aircraft.
AM Anil Khosla has served as the Directing Staff at prestigious institutions like Tactics and Combat Development Establishment (TACDE) and Flying Instructor School (FIS). He has commanded a Jaguar squadron with maritime role and two frontline bases of the IAF at Jaisalmer & Ambala. As an Air Marshal he has held appointment of Senior Air Staff Officer, Central Air Command, Director General Air (Operations) at Air HQ (Vayu Bhawan) and Director General (Inspection & Safety) at Air HQ (RK Puram). His last appointment was AOC-in-C EAC before being appointed as the new Vice Chief of Air Staff.
Air Marshal V. R. Chaudhari AVSM VM has been appointed as the Deputy Chief Of Air Staff. Commissioned into Fighter Stream of the IAF on 29 Dec 1982, Air Marshal V. R. Chaudhari has flown various aircraft and is experienced on MiG-21, MiG-23MF, MiG-29 and SU-30MKI platforms with a flying experience over 3800 hours. The Air Marshal has a rich background of operational flying, having undertaken numerous Air Defence missions during Op-Meghdoot and Op-Safed Sagar. Before taking over as Deputy Chief of the Air Staff he was the Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Personnel Officers).
Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar AVSM VSM is now the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Air Command (EAC). An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Air Marshal Nambiar is an experimental test pilot and has flown 42 types of aircraft as Pilot in Command. He has the distinction of having the highest number of flying hours on the Mirage-2000 in the IAF, with over 2300 flying hours on the aircraft to his credit, and a total of 5100 hours of flying experience. He flew the Mirage-2000 in combat during the Kargil conflict and has flown 25 operational missions. He served as the Director of Space Applications at Air HQ and the Chief Operations Officer of Air Force Station, Gwalior. Before taking over as the AOC-in-C of EAC, he was the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff.
Air Marshal Harijit Singh Arora AVSM has been is the new Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South Western Air Command (SWAC). Taking over from Air Marshal R. K. Dhir PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC, Air Marshal Harijit Singh Arora has rich and diverse experience of accident-free operational flying which includes MiG 21, MiG 29 and other aircraft in IAF inventory, including helicopters. He commanded a MiG-21 Bis Sqn in the South Western sector and later was Commander of Air Defence Direction Centre in the same sector. He went on to command a premier MiG-29 Base on the western border and as an Air Vice Marshal he was Air Defence Commander at Headquarters of Western Air Command as well as Eastern Air Command. He was the Director General Air (Operations) at Air HQ before taking over as the AOC-in-C.
Air Marshal Amit Dev VSM has been appointed as Director General Air (OPS). An NDA alumnus, Air Marshal Amit Dev was commissioned in the Indian Air Force, in the fighter stream of Flying Branch, on 29 Dec 1982. He has flown various types of fighter and trainer aircraft in the inventory of IAF and has approximately 2500 hours of flying experience. In his 36 years of exemplary service, he has held important field and staff appointments that includes command of a fighter squadron, Air Defence Direction Centre, an operational fighter base and Advance HQ, South Western Air Command. He has served as Joint Director Tactical Operations, Director Air Staff Inspection, Principal Director Air Staff Inspection and Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Inspection), at Air HQ. The Air Officer was Air-I of Central Air Command and Chief Staff Officer (Air Vector) at Strategic Forces Command.