New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) today effected an overhaul of its top brass, with a new officer taking charge as vice chief, apart from a slew of other new appointments the armed forces, including from the Indian Navy.

Air Marshal Sandeep Singh, who was till yesterday the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Gandhinagar-headquartered South Western Air Command, took over as the Vice Chief of Air Staff. He replaces Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari, who took over as the Chief of Air Staff yesterday.

Air Marshal Sandeep Singh is an alumnus of National Defence Academy (NDA) at Khadakvasla near Pune and was commissioned in the flying branch of IAF in Dec. 1983 as a fighter pilot.

The Air Officer is an Experimental Test Pilot (ETP) and a Qualified Flying Instructor (QFI). He has diverse experience in operational and experimental test flying on various types of fighter aircraft and has flown about 4,400 hours.

During his nearly 38 years of service in the IAF, the Air Marshal has held numerous important command and staff appointments. He has commanded the Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE), a frontline air base, and an operational fighter squadron.

He has held the appointments of Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Plans), Senior Air Staff Officer at the Eastern Air Command headquarters in Shillong, and Deputy Chief of the Air Staff at Air Headquarters. The Air Marshal is a recipient of Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal.

Air Marshal Krishna is new Chief of IDS HQ

At the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) Headquarters, Air Marshal B. R. Krishna assumed charge of Chief of IDS to the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC).

Commissioned as a fighter pilot in 1983, Air Marshal Krishna has had a career spanning over 38 years. He is both a QFI and an ETP, and has flown a wide variety of fighters, transport aircraft, and helicopters in the inventory of the IAF.

He has over 5,000 hours of flying experience including operational, instructional and test flying. He is an alumnus of NDA, Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) and National Defence College (NDC).

The CISC has held numerous important command and staff appointments. He commanded a frontline fighter squadron and the Air Force Test Pilots School. He was the Chief Operations Officer of a forward air base, Commandant of ASTE and has commanded a frontline air base.

Air Marshal Krishna has served as the Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Projects) and the Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Plans) at the Air Headquarters. As an Air Marshal, he served as Senior Air Staff Officer, South Western Air Command and as Director General Air Operations.

Prior to taking over as CISC, he was commanding the Western Air Command. The Air Marshal was awarded Shaurya Chakra for gallantry in 1986 and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service in 1987.

New Western Air Commander takes charge

Air Marshal Amit Dev assumed the appointment of Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of the Palam-based Western Air Command in the city.

An alumnus of the NDA, the Air Marshal was commissioned in the flying branch of the IAF in Dec. 1982 as a fighter pilot.

A Fighter Strike Leader, the Air Officer has about 2,500 hours of operational flying experience on a wide variety of fighter aircraft in the inventory of IAF.

During the nearly 39 years of service in the IAF, the Air Officer has held numerous important command and staff appointments. He has commanded a MiG-21 squadron, a frontline air base, an Air Defence Direction Centre and an operational fighter base.

He has tenanted the appointments of Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Inspection), Director General Air Operations and Air Officer-in-Charge Personnel at the Air Headquarters.

Prior to assuming the current appointment, he held the appointment of Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at the Shillong-headquartered Eastern Air Command.

The Air Marshal is a recipient of Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal. He was appointed as the honorary Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to the President of India on Aug. 1.

New Chief Hydrographer of Indian government

Vice Admiral Adhir Arora, a Nau Sena Medal awardee, took charge as the Chief Hydrographer to the Government of India from Vice Admiral Vinay Badhwar, who superannuated yesterday.

Vice Admiral Arora was commissioned in the Executive Branch of the Indian Navy in 1985. As a specialist hydrographer, he has undertaken hydrographic surveys in and across India and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

Whilst in command of INS Sutlej, the ship was the first to arrive off Galle Port in Sri Lanka for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations post-Tsunami in 2004.

He also has the rare distinction of undertaking foreign co-operation surveys in Mauritius, Seychelles and Kenya while in command of INS Sarvekshak.

These include high sensitive marine ecological areas, continental shelf and pioneer surveys. He was also the co-chair for the 3rd Indo-Mauritius hydrographic cooperation meeting in 2008.

During his staff appointment, he was been responsible for maritime boundaries aspects including representing India in the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at the Hague, Netherlands during the arbitration with Bangladesh.

He also steered the ship building project of new construction ships with state-of-the-art systems. He is a graduate of the NDA and an alumnus of DSSC, Wellington.

During his Naval Higher Command Course, he was also awarded the Master of Philosophy from Mumbai University. He has authored various professional papers and has been taking keen interest in evolving scenario on maritime boundary issues.

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