The government of Thursday appointed Air Vice Chief Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria the next Chief of Air Staff after the superannuation of incumbent BS Dhanoa. “Government has decided to appoint Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria, PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC presently Vice Chief of Air Staff as the next Chief of the Air Staff,” Defence Ministry’s Principal Spokesperson, said on Twitter. Bhaduria will take over the post of chief of Air staff after his predecessor Dhanoa retires on September 30. However, it is worth noting that Bhadauria was also due to retire on the same day as Dhanoa, but now that he has been appointed as the Chief of Air staff, he will serve an additional three-year term or till the age of 62, whichever is sooner. Bhaduria’s term as Chief Air Marshal will be for two years.
Bhadauria, PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC is the current Vice Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and assumed office in May 2019 after superannuation of Air Marshal Anil Khosla. Bhadauria was commissioned into the fighter stream of the IAF on June 15, 1980, with the Sword of Honour. He has clocked over 4,250 hours of flying and has experience in 26 different types of fighters. Bhadauria served as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), Southern Air Command from March 2017 August 2018. He also served as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), Training Command from August 2018.
During 36 years of his career, Bhadauria has been awarded several medals including the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (January 2013), the Vayu Sena Medal (January 2002) and the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (January 2018). He was appointed honorary Aide De Campe to the President of India on January 2019. During his career, he has held several commands and staff appointments such as – Commander of a Jaguar Squadron at a front line base in South-Western sector; Commanding Officer of Flight Test Squadron at Aircraft and System Testing Establishment; Chief Test Pilot and Project Director of National Flight Test Centre on the Tejas LCA project; Air Attache in Moscow; Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Projects); Commandant of the National Defence Academy; Senior Air Staff Officer at Central Air Command and Deputy Chief of the Air Staff.
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