Chief of Air Staff (India)

Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force

Incumbent Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha since 31 December 2013
Formation	1 April 1955
First holder	Air Marshal Subroto Mukherjee

Chief of the Air Staff is the head of the Indian Air Force.Currently the position is held by Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha.

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 1966, 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.

Air Chiefs, British India (1919–1947)

The following tables chronicle the appointees to the office of the Chief of the Air Staff or its preceding positions during the British Raj.

Commander, Indian Group (1919–1920)

No.	Name	Rank	Photo	Appointment Date	Left Office	Decorations
1	Tom Webb-Bowen	Air Commodore (later Air Vice-Marshal)		20 September 1919	27 January 1920	CB, CMG

Air Officer Commanding RAF, India (1920–1938)

No.	Name	Rank	Appointment Date	Left Office	Decorations
1	Tom Webb-Bowen	Air Commodore (later Air Vice-Marshal)	27 January 1920	31 December 1922	CB, CMG
2	Philip Game	Air Vice-Marshal	31 December 1922	5 November 1923	CB, DSO
3	Sir Edward Leonard Ellington	Air Vice-Marshal (later Marshal of the Royal Air Force)	5 November 1923	27 December 1926	KCB, CMG, CBE
4	Sir Geoffrey Salmond	Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal)	27 December 1926	6 February 1931	KCB, KCMG, DSO
5	Sir John Miles Steel	Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal)	6 February 1931	2 March 1935	KCB, KBE, CMG
6	Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt	Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal)	2 March 1935	29 September 1937	KCB, CMG, DSO, MC
7	Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté	Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal)	29 September 1937	27 December 1938	KCB, CMG, DSO

Air Officer Commander-in-Chief, Air Forces in India (1938–1947)

No.	Name	Rank	Appointment Date	Left Office	Decorations
1	Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté	Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal)	27 December 1938	6 October 1939	KCB, CMG, DSO
2	Sir John Frederick Andrews Higgins	Air Marshal	6 October 1939	26 September 1940	KCB, KBE, DSO, AFC
3	Sir Patrick Playfair	Air Marshal	26 September 1940	6 March 1942	KBE, CB, CVO, MC
4	Sir Richard Peirse	Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal)	6 March 1942	27 April 1943	KCB, DSO, AFC
5	Sir Guy Garrod	Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal)	27 April 1943	8 March 1944	KCB, OBE, MC, DFC
6	Meredith Thomas	Air Vice-Marshal	8 March 1944	1 April 1946	CSI, CBE, DFC, AFC
7	Sir Roderick Carr	Air Marshal	1 April 1946	22 November 1946	KBE, CB, DFC, AFC
8	Sir Hugh Walmsley	Air Marshal	22 November 1946	15 August 1947	KCIE, CBE, MC, DFC

(On 15 August 1947, the unified RIAF was separated into the Royal Indian Air Force and the Royal Pakistan Air Force)

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.

Air Chiefs, Dominion of India (1947–1950)

(**Seconded from the Royal Air Force)

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

No.	Name	Rank	Photo	Appointment Date	Left Office	Decorations
1	Sir Thomas Elmhirst**	Air Marshal		15 August 1947	21 June 1948	KBE, CB, AFC

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

No.	Name	Rank	Photo	Appointment Date	Left Office	Decorations
1	Sir Thomas Elmhirst**	Air Marshal		21 June 1948	25 January 1950	KBE, CB, AFC

Air Chiefs, Republic of India (1950–present)

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

No.	Name	Rank	Appointment Date	Left Office	Decorations
1	Sir Thomas Elmhirst**	Air Marshal	26 January 1950	23 February 1950	KBE, CB, AFC
2	Sir Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman**	Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal)	23 February 1950	9 December 1951	KBE, CB, DFC, AFC
3	Gerald Gibbs**	Air Marshal	10 December 1951	31 March 1954	CIE, CBE, MC & Two Bars
4	Subroto Mukerjee	Air Marshal	1 April 1954	31 March 1955	OBE

Chief of the Air Staff (1955–present)

No.	Name	Rank	Appointment Date	Left Office	Decorations
1	Subroto Mukerjee	Air Marshal	1 April 1955	8 November 1960	OBE
2	Aspy Engineer	Air Marshal	1 December 1960	31 July 1964	DFC
3	Arjan Singh	Air Chief Marshal (later Marshal of the Indian Air Force)	1 August 1964	15 July 1969	DFC
4	Pratap Chandra Lal	Air Chief Marshal	16 July 1969	15 January 1973	Padma Bhushan, DFC
5	Om Prakash Mehra	Air Chief Marshal	16 January 1973	31 January 1976	PVSM
6	Hrushikesh Moolgavkar	Air Chief Marshal	1 February 1976	31 August 1978	PVSM
7	Idris Latif	Air Chief Marshal	1 September 1978	31 August 1981	PVSM
8	Dilbagh Singh	Air Chief Marshal	1 September 1981	3 September 1984	PVSM, AVSM, VM
9	Lakshman Mohan Katre	Air Chief Marshal	3 September 1984	1 July 1985	PVSM, AVSM
10	Denis La Fontaine	Air Chief Marshal	3 July 1985	31 July 1988	PVSM, AVSM, VSM
11	Surinder Mehra	Air Chief Marshal	1 August 1988	31 July 1991	PVSM
12	Nirmal Chandra Suri	Air Chief Marshal	31 July 1991	31 July 1993	PVSM, AVSM, VM
13	Swaroop Kaul	Air Chief Marshal	1 August 1993	31 December 1995	PVSM, MVC
14	Satish Sareen	Air Chief Marshal	31 December 1995	31 December 1998	PVSM
15	Anil Tipnis	Air Chief Marshal	31 December 1998	31 December 2001	PVSM, AVSM, VM
16	Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy	Air Chief Marshal	31 December 2001	31 December 2004	PVSM, AVSM, VM & Bar
17	Shashindra Pal Tyagi	Air Chief Marshal	31 December 2004	31 March 2007	PVSM, AVSM, VM
18	Fali Homi Major	Air Chief Marshal	31 March 2007	31 March 2009	PVSM, AVSM, VM, SrC
19	Pradeep Vasant Naik	Air Chief Marshal	31 March 2009	31 July 2011	PVSM, VSM
20	Norman Anil Kumar Browne	Air Chief Marshal	31 July 2011	31 December 2013	PVSM, VM
21	Arup Raha	Air Chief Marshal	31 December 2013	Present	PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC

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 or a Field Marshal in an Army.

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