Chief of the Air Staff (India)

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Chief of the Air Staff
Air Marshal Sir Thomas Elmhirst
Deputy Vice Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS)
Salary₹250,000 (US$3,100) monthly[1][2]
WebsiteOfficial website

The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) is a statutory office held by the professional head of the Indian Air Force (IAF), the aerial branch of the Indian Armed Forces.[3] Customarily held by a four-star air chief marshal, the CAS is the senior-most operational officer of the IAF, mandated with the responsibilities of supervising the force's overall functioning during states of peace and wartime, committing to the establishment-cum-continuity of air deterrence and executing India's security objectives vis-à-vis the preservation of the country's air sovereignty.[4] Also a permanent member of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) and the National Security Council (NSC), the CAS also bears the responsibility of advising the nation's civilian leadership i.e., the Government of India on all matters privy to the IAF.[5]

Statutorily, the CAS ranks 12th-overall in the Indian order of precedence, and is the IAF's status-equivalent of the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chief of the Army Staff and the Chief of the Naval Staff - all three positions of which are also occupied by four-star officers from the armed forces.[6]

History

Pre-independence era (1932-1947)

Since the establishment of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in October 1932 (later rechristened the Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF)), the organization's professional head bore the undermentioned designations:[7]

  • 1932–1938: Air Officer Commanding RAF, India[8]
  • 1938–1947: Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Air Forces in India[9]

Dominion-era (1947-1950)

Upon independence and the subsequent partition of the subcontinent, RAF India was bifurcated into two new entities: a successor Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) - responsible for the Dominion of India, and the newly-formed Royal Pakistan Air Force (RPAF) - responsible for the Dominion of Pakistan. However, the former role of Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Air Forces in India was trifurcated into three positions:

Whilst the RIAF and RPAF maintained their respective commanding officers, the Deputy Supreme Commander (Air), who worked for the Supreme Commander's Headquarters (Supreme HQ), acted as the overall coordinator for the two new air forces, under the additional title of Air Officer Commanding RAF Units in India and Pakistan.[10] The role was disbanded in November 1947, following which India and Pakistan subsequently gained full organizational control of the RIAF and RPAF, respectively.[10]

On 1 March 1948, the designation of the RIAF's commanding officer was rechristened as Chief of the Air Staff,

Sir Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman.[13]

Republic-era (1950-present)

In 1954,

Subroto Mukherjee - then the IAF's Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (DCAS), was promoted to rank of Air Marshal and succeeded him as the first native and first non-RAF C-in-C of the force.[14] A year later, in 1955, the designation of C-in-C was shortened to simply Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) through the Commanders-In-Chief (Change in Designation) Act, 1955; as a result of the Act, Mukherjee's tenure continued under the new designation, making him the last C-in-C.[15]

In January 2002, then-retired Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh, the IAF's third CAS, was promoted to the five-star rank of Marshal of the Indian Air Force (MIAF), in recognition of his leadership during the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War - which made him the only CAS-appointee to have ever been promoted to the rank; his promotion occurred thirty-three years after his superannuation.[16] To note, although the rank-holder of MIAF is nominally the highest-ranking officer in the IAF, the rank is all but titular with no operational duties attached, which leaves the CAS as the highest operationally-active officer in the IAF.[17]

Description

The Vayu Bhawan, New Delhi - the station of Air HQ, where the CAS is seated.

Roles and responsibilities

Seated at Air Headquarters (Air HQ), stationed in New Delhi, the CAS is the senior-most operational officer of the IAF, and is tasked with the following:

  • Responsibility for the overall functioning of the organization's facets, such as command, control, administration and strategy.[18]
  • Advising the Central Government on all matters privy to the IAF.[5]
  • Coordinating various components of the IAF towards the protection-cum-realization of the nation's air sovereignty during states of armed conflict or war.[19]
  • Convening court-martials at the behest of the Central Government to review cases of misconduct during peace and wartime.[20]
  • Reviewing the judicial sentencing and pleas of officers convicted of professional misconduct whilst in service.[20]

In addition to these responsibilities, the CAS is also a permanent member of:

The office's eminence in the aforementioned groups thus grants the appointee with the role to advise the Minister of Defence (Raksha Mantri or RM) on the affairs related to the IAF's functioning and the promotion of an comprehensive integrated planning policy with respect to the affairs of tri-service integration, doctrinal strategy, capability development, defence acquisition and infrastructure.[21][22]

Structure

As the professional head of the force, the CAS is assisted by one subordinate officer and one principal staff officer, namely:

Promotion

Initially, beginning in the pre-independence era, until 1966, the office of CAS was held by a three-star air marshal; the first three chiefs in the post-independence IAF were three-star air marshals.[23] However, the office’s rank-eligibility was raised to the four-star rank of air chief marshal in January 1966, initially as a recognitive measure to Air Marshal Arjan Singh, the IAF's third and then-incumbent CAS, for his leadership of the IAF during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965; every CAS-appointee since then has been an air chief marshal.[23]

The move to appoint a new designate to the position usually begins three months before the change-of-command, wherein the Ministry of Defence (MoD) reviews the résumés of the IAF's senior-most air marshals, which regularly includes the Vice Chief of the Air Staff and at-most three of the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chiefs (AOC-in-C) of the force’s combatant commands.[24] Appointments to the position are made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) - comprising the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence, upon recommendation from Air HQ; appointees to the office are subsequently promoted to the rank of air chief marshal.[25]

Tenure

During the initial years of the post-independence IAF, CAS-appointees were given one four-year term, with the possibility of extension; Air Marshal

superannuation upon the completion of three years in the position or at the age of 62, whichever is earlier.[27]

Additionally, a CAS-appointee is also eligible to be selected for the position of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), in accordance with the Air Force (Amendment) Regulations, 2022 - which prescribes that the designated nominee, in this case the CAS, must be under the age of 62 at the time of appointment as CDS; as of 2024, no CAS-appointee has ever been appointed as CDS.[28][29]

Appointees

For all air chiefs of the Royal Air Force in British India, see RAF India § Commanders.
For all air chiefs of the Royal Indian Air Force (pre-1950), see Royal Indian Air Force § Commanders.

(**Seconded from the Royal Air Force)

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

No. Portrait Name Took office Left office Time in office
1
KBE, AFC**
(1895–1982)
[a]
15 August 194720 June 1948310 days

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

No. Portrait Name Took office Left office Time in office
1
KBE, AFC**
(1895–1982)
[a]
21 June 194825 January 19501 year, 218 days

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

No. Portrait Name Took office Left office Time in office
1
CB, AFC**
(1895–1982)
[a][30]
26 January 195023 February 195028 days
2
CB, DFC, AFC**
(1899–1978)
[a]
23 February 19509 December 19511 year, 289 days
3
CBE, MC & Two Bars**
(1896–1992)
[a]
10 December 195131 March 19542 years, 111 days
4
OBE

(1911–1960)
1 April 195431 March 1955364 days

Chief of the Air Staff (1955–present)

No. Portrait Name Took office Left office Time in office
4
OBE

(1911–1960)
1 April 19558 November 1960 †5 years, 221 days
51 December 196031 July 19643 years, 243 days
6
Air Chief Marshal
Arjan Singh DFC

(1919–2017)
1 August 196415 July 19694 years, 348 days
716 July 196915 January 19733 years, 183 days
816 January 197331 January 19763 years, 15 days
91 February 197630 August 19782 years, 241 days
101 September 197830 August 19813 years, 29 days
11
VM

(1926–2001)
1 September 19813 September 19843 years, 2 days
123 September 19841 July 1985 †301 days
13
VM

(1929–2011)
3 July 198531 July 19883 years, 28 days
14
VM

(1932–2003)
1 August 198831 July 19912 years, 364 days
15
ADC

(born 1933)
31 July 199131 July 19932 years
16
ADC

(born 1935)
1 August 199331 December 19952 years, 152 days
17
ADC

(born 1939)
31 December 199531 December 19983 years
18
ADC

(born 1940)
31 December 199831 December 20013 years
19
VM

(born 1943)
31 December 200131 December 20043 years
20
ADC

(born 1945)
31 December 200431 March 20072 years, 90 days
21
ADC

(born 1947)
31 March 200731 May 20092 years, 61 days
22
ADC

(born 1949)
31 May 200931 July 20112 years, 61 days
23
ADC

(born 1951)
31 July 201131 December 20132 years, 153 days
24
ADC

(born 1954)
31 December 201331 December 20163 years
25
ADC

(born 1957)
31 December 201630 September 20192 years, 273 days
26
ADC

(born 1959)
30 September 201930 September 20212 years
27
ADC

(born 1962)
30 September 2021Incumbent2 years, 202 days

See also

Other offices of the Indian Armed Forces

History

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Seconded from the Royal Air Force

References

  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.
  2. ^ Biswas, Shreya, ed. (29 June 2016). "7th Pay Commission cleared: What is the Pay Commission? How does it affect salaries?". India Today. Archived from the original on 15 November 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  3. ^ "CHIEF OF THE AIR STAFF". indianairforce.nic.in.
  4. ^ "IAF's Revised Doctrine 2022: An Overview". www.vifindia.org. 7 February 2023.
  5. ^ a b "The Civil and the Military in India". www.theindiaforum.in. 12 February 2020.
  6. ^ "PRESIDENT'S SECRETARIAT" (PDF). www.mha.gov.in. 26 July 1979.
  7. ^ "The Royal Indian Air Force, 1932 – 1947". www.rafmuseum.org.uk. 15 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Inter-War, Inter-Service Friction on the North-West Frontier of India and its Impact on the Development and Application of Royal Air Force Doctrine" (PDF). core.ac.uk.
  9. ^ "PB Joubert de la Ferte_P". www.rafweb.org.
  10. ^ a b "Departure of Air Marshal H. S. P. Walmsley" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 13 November 1947. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Press Communique" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 28 February 1948. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  12. ^ "Press Communique" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 21 June 1948. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  13. ^ a b "Air Marshal Sir Thomas Elmhirst". www.rafweb.org.
  14. ^ "Government Tribute To Air Marshal Mukerjee" (PDF). archive.pib.gov.in. 9 November 190.
  15. ^ "THE COMMANDERS-IN-CHIEF (CHANGE IN DESIGNATION) BILL, 1955" (PDF). lddashboard.legislative.gov.in.
  16. ^ "Arjan Singh is India's first IAF marshal". m.rediff.com. 25 January 2002.
  17. ^ "MARSHAL OF IAF". afcat.cdac.in.
  18. ^ "Indian Armed Forces". knowindia.india.gov.in.
  19. ^ "rotection of India's sovereignty, integrity to be ensured at any cost: New IAF Chief". The Economic Times. 30 September 2021.
  20. ^ a b "The Air Force Act, 1950" (PDF).
  21. ^ "Civil-military relations in Independent India". www.orfonline.org. 15 August 2022.
  22. ^ "CDS Rawat to face hurdles & sabotage unless rules are rewritten". www.orfonline.org. 2 January 2020.
  23. ^ a b "HIGHER RANK FOR AIR CHIEF" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in. 20 January 1966.
  24. ^ "Suspense continues over name of next IAF Chief". www.theweek.in. 16 September 2019.
  25. ^ "Who is R.K.S. Bhadauria, the next IAF chief". www.theweek.in. 19 September 2019.
  26. ^ "Fresh Tenure for Air Chief" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in. 14 August 1958.
  27. ^ "Defence Services Regulations, 2000" (PDF). www.mod.gov.in.
  28. ^ "Watch - Navy or IAF Officer Should've Been Made CDS but Lt Gen Chauhan a Good Choice: Ajai Shukla". thewire.in. 29 September 2022.
  29. ^ "MINISTRY OF DEFENCE (Department of Defence) NOTIFICATION" (PDF). assettype.com.
  30. ^ Chiefs of the Indian Air Force 1947 to Present Archived 26 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine

External links

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