List of Air Chief Marshal of India (1947-Present)
Chief of the Air Staff or Air Chief Marshal (ACM) is the professional head and the commander of the Indian Air Force.
The Indian Air Force was officially established on 8 October 1932. Its first flight came into being on 01 Apr 1933.
The current ACM of India is Birender Singh Dhanoa who took office on 31 December 2016, will retire on 29 September 2019. He would be replaced by the Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria.
The highest rank in the India's IAF is "Marshal of the Air Force", which is conferred by the President of India only for exceptional service for the nation.
Till date only Arjan Singh had been honoured with the post of "Marshal of the Indian Air" in 2002 for his distinguished service in commanding the IAF during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
Let us have a look at Chief of Air Staff since 1947.
| No. |
Name |
Rank |
Appointment Date |
Left Office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Sir Thomas Walker Elmhirst |
Air Marshal |
15 Aug 1947 |
22 Feb 1950 |
| 2 |
Ronald Ivelaw Chapman |
Air Marshal |
22 Feb 1950 |
09 Dec 1951 |
| 3 |
Sir Gerald Ernest Gibbs |
Air Marshal |
10 Dec 1951 |
31 Mar 1954 |
| 4 |
Subroto Mukerjee |
Air Marshal |
Apr 1, 1954 |
Nov 8, 1960 |
| 5 |
Aspy Engineer |
Air Marshal |
Dec 1, 1960 |
July 31, 1964 |
| 6 |
Arjan Singh |
The first Air Chief Marshal |
Aug 1, 1964 |
July 15, 1969 |
| 7 |
Pratap Chandra Lal |
Air Chief Marshal |
July 16, 1969 |
Jan 15, 1973 |
| 8 |
Om Prakash Mehra |
Air Chief Marshal |
Jan 16, 1973 |
Jan 31, 1976 |
| 9 |
Hrushikesh Moolgavkar |
Air Chief Marshal |
Feb 1, 1976 |
Aug 31, 1978 |
| 10 |
Idris Latif |
Air Chief Marshal |
Sep 1, 1978 |
Aug 31, 1981 |
| 11 |
Dilbagh Singh |
Air Chief Marshal |
Sep 1, 1981 |
Sep 4, 1984 |
| 12 |
Lakshman Madhav Katre |
Air Chief Marshal |
Sep 4, 1984 |
July 1, 1985 |
| 13 |
Denis La Fontaine |
Air Chief Marshal |
July 3, 1985 |
July 31, 1988 |
| 14 |
Surinder Mehra |
Air Chief Marshal |
Aug 1, 1988 |
July 31, 1991 |
| 15 |
Nirmal Chandra Suri |
Air Chief Marshal |
July 31, 1991 |
July 31, 1993 |
| 16 |
Swaroop Kaul |
Air Chief Marshal |
Aug 1, 1993 |
Dec 31, 1995 |
| 17 |
Satish Sareen |
Air Chief Marshal |
Dec 31, 1995 |
Dec 31, 1998 |
| 18 |
Anil Tipnis |
Air Chief Marshal |
Dec 31, 1998 |
Dec 31, 2001 |
| 19 |
Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy |
Air Chief Marshal |
Dec 31, 2001 |
Dec 31, 2004 |
| 20 |
Shashindra Pal Tyagi |
Air Chief Marshal |
Dec 31, 2004 |
Mar 31, 2007 |
| 21 |
Fali Homi Major |
Air Chief Marshal |
Mar 31, 2007 |
Mar 31, 2009 |
| 22 |
Pradeep Vasant Naik |
Air Chief Marshal |
Mar 31, 2009 |
July 31, 2011 |
| 23 |
Norman Anil Kumar Browne |
Air Chief Marshal |
Aug 1, 2011 |
Dec 31, 2013 |
| 24 |
Arup Raha |
Air Chief Marshal |
Dec 31, 2013 |
Dec 31, 2016 |
| 25. |
Birender Singh Dhanoa |
Air Chief Marshal |
Dec 31, 2016 |
Incumbent |
| 26. |
Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria |
Air Chief Marshal |
30 Sept. 2019 |
|
Name of the post of Air Chief Marshal keep on changing since 1947. Initially for 1947–1948 the name of this post was Air Officer Commanding, Royal Indian Air Force which became Chief of the Air Staff in 1955 and continuing with the same till date.
The first chief to air staff or air chief marshal of Indian air force was Mr. Arajan Singh who became Marshal of the Indian Air Force. Birender Singh Dhanoa is the 25th Air Chief Marshal of India.