Indian Air Chief Marshal Birender retires, Harjit made vice air chief

By Asia Samachar Team | INDIA |

The highest two ranking Sikh officers in the Indian Air Force (IAF) were involved in a change of command.

Air Marshal Harjit Singh Arora on Tuesday (1 Sept 2019) took over as Vice Chief of the Air Staff, the second-highest-ranking officer in the IAF.

The day before, Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa retired. Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria took over as 26th chief. Birender, a Kargil war veteran and first-rate fighter pilot, took office on 31 Dec 2016.

In October 2018, Harjit was made Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), South Western Air Command at Gandhinagar.

He was commissioned in the IAF as a fighter pilot in December 1981.

Harjit 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 is a meritorious graduate of Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment, Defence Services Staff College and National Defence College. He is also Master of Philosophy in Defence and Strategic Studies.

RELATED STORY:

Air Marshal Harjit takes over command as India’s SWAC (Asia Samachar, 3 Oct 2018)

Indian air force chief visits Malaysia (Asia Samachar, 6 Sept 2018)

Air Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa appointed as Indian Air Force chief (Asia Samachar, 18 Dec 2016)