Who is Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa

Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa is the 25th Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force. He assumed the post on 31 December 2016 after Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha retired. Also, he has been conferred with PVSM, AVSM, YSM, and VM. And above all, he was also appointed as Honorary ADC to the President of India in 2015. Here is what you should know about him and be inspired.

Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa

• Dhanoa was commissioned in the IAF in June 1978 as a fighter pilot. He has flown Kiran, MiG-21, Jaguar, MiG-29, Su-30 MKI and that too with a clean flight safety record.
• He is also a qualified flying instructor in HJT-16 Kiran, MiG-21, SEPECAT Jaguar, MiG-29 and Su-30MKI.
• Dhanoa was Commanding Officer of a front line ground attack fighter squadron during the Kargil Conflict in 1999.
• And besides that, he was the mastermind in devising innovative methods of bombing in the night at altitudes. This was never before attempted in the history of air warfare.
• Above all, he holds the highest flying instructional category in the IAF. And for this, he was also selected to establish the IAF Training Team abroad.
• Before heading the Indian Air force, he headed the South-Western Air Command.

• He was appointed as Honorary ADC to the President because he was an avid reader and writer of air power and joint operations.
• Air Marshal Dhanoa is married to Kamalpreet and their son Jasman is a law graduate.
• He held several key operational and administrative appointments in his 37 years of career. This includes Director Targeting Cell at Air Headquarters, Director Fighter Operations & War Planning at Headquarters Western Air Command, Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Intelligence) at Air Headquarters, Senior Air Staff Officer of Eastern & Western Air Command and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of South Western Air Command.
• During his tenure, he transformed the concepts of air operations of the IAF to contemporary war-fighting practices of air power.

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