Air Chief Marshal
Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria
PVSM AVSM VM ADC
23rd Chief of the Air Staff
In office
30 September 2019 – 30 September 2021
PresidentRam Nath Kovind
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byBirender Singh Dhanoa
Succeeded byVivek Ram Chaudhari
43rd Vice Chief of the Air Staff
In office
1 May 2019 – 30 September 2019
Preceded byAnil Khosla
Succeeded byHarjit Singh Arora
Personal details
Born (1959-09-15) 15 September 1959 (age 64)
Korath, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party (2024‍–‍present)
SpouseAsha Bhadauria
Military service
Allegiance India
Branch/service Indian Air Force
Years of service15 June 1980 - 30 September 2021
Rank Air Chief Marshal
UnitNo. 23 Squadron
Commands
Service number16026[1]
Awards

Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria PVSM AVSM VM ADC (born 15 September 1959), is a retired Indian Air Force officer, who served as the Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force, having assumed office on 30 September 2019 after the retirement of Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa.[2][3] He retired on 30 September 2021 and was succeeded by Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari.[4]

Early life and education

Bhadauria is from Korath, a village of tahsil Bah District Agra. He is born in a Rajput family.[5][6] His father, Suraj Pal Singh Bhadauria, too served in the Indian Air Force as a Junior Commissioned Officer and retired with the rank of Master Warrant Officer.[7] Bhadauria is an alumnus of Defence Services Command and Staff College Bangladesh, National Defence Academy, Pune and holds a Masters in Defence studies from Command and Staff College.[8][9]

Career

Bhadauria was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on 15 June 1980 with the Sword of Honour. He has clocked over 4,250 hours of flying and has experience on 26 different types of fighter jets and transport aircraft. He held several key operational and administrative appointments at various stages of his service including 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 (1 January 2016 - 28 February 2017). He is also an experimental Test Pilot, a Category A qualified Flying Instructor and a Pilot Attack Instructor.[10][11][12]

Bhadauria served as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), Southern Air Command from 1 March 2017, succeeding Air Marshal Sunderraman Neelakantan, to 1 August 2018.[10][8][13][14]

He also served as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), Training Command from 1 August 2018 after retirement of Air Marshal S R K Nair, and held the office till his elevation to the Vice Chief of the Air Staff.[15][16]

He took office of Vice Chief of the Air Staff on 1 May 2019 after the retirement of Air Marshal Anil Khosla.[17][18]

On 19 September 2019 he was appointed as the Chief of Air Staff.[19] He retired on 30 September 2021.[20]

Political Career

On 24 March 2024, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of Vinod Tawde, Vishal Singh[disambiguation needed] and Anurag Thakur.[21]

Personal life

His Father is Mr. Suraj Pal Singh Bhadauria, who is also from IAF, and a VSM holder.[8]

Awards and decorations

During 41 years of his career, Bhadauria has been awarded several medals: the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (January 2013), the Vayu Sena Medal (January 2002).[10][1] and the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (January 2018).[22] He was appointed as the honorary air force ADC to the President of India on 1 January 2019.[3] He was inducted into Mirpur Hall of Fame at Defence Services Command and Staff College, Bangladesh.[9]

Param Vishisht Seva Medal Ati Vishisht Seva Medal
Vayu Sena Medal Samanya Seva Medal Siachen Glacier Medal Operation Parakram Medal
Operation Vijay Medal Sainya Seva Medal High Altitude Service Medal Videsh Seva Medal
50th Anniversary of Independence Medal 30 Years Long Service Medal 20 Years Long Service Medal 9 Years Long Service Medal

Dates of rank

Insignia Rank Component Date of rank
Pilot Officer Indian Air Force 15 June 1980[23]
Flying Officer Indian Air Force 15 June 1981[24]
Flight Lieutenant Indian Air Force 15 June 1985[25]
Squadron Leader Indian Air Force 15 June 1991[26]
Wing Commander Indian Air Force 5 May 1997[27]
Group Captain Indian Air Force 1 May 2003[28]
Air Commodore Indian Air Force 1 January 2008[29]
Air Vice Marshal Indian Air Force 29 April 2011 (seniority from 1 January)[30]
Air Marshal Indian Air Force 1 August 2014[31]
Air Chief Marshal
(CAS)		 Indian Air Force 30 September 2019


  • IAF Chief ACM RKS Bhaduria undertaking sortie on Tejas from SQ 45 during SQ 18 commissioning ceremony.
    IAF Chief ACM RKS Bhaduria undertaking sortie on Tejas from SQ 45 during SQ 18 commissioning ceremony.
  • ACM RKS Bhaduria with SQ45 CO Samrat Dhankar during SQ 18 commissioning ceremony
    ACM RKS Bhaduria with SQ45 CO Samrat Dhankar during SQ 18 commissioning ceremony
  • IAF Chief RKS Bhaduria handing over ceremonial key to SQ 18 CO Manish Tolani
    IAF Chief RKS Bhaduria handing over ceremonial key to SQ 18 CO Manish Tolani

References

Notes

Citations

  1. ^ a b "President Confers Gallantry and Distinguished Service Awards". 27 April 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  2. ^ @IAF_MCC (30 September 2019). "Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, took over as 26th Chief of the Indian Air Force today. He was commissioned into the fighter stream of IAF in Jun 1980" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ^ a b "Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria takes over as the 26th Chief of the Air Staff" (Press release). Press Information Bureau. 30 September 2019.
  4. ^ Quint, The (21 September 2021). "Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari To Be Next Chief of Air Staff". TheQuint. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  5. ^ "उड़ते जहाज ने पैदा की फाइटर पायलट बनने की ललक, आज पाया ये मुकाम, जानिए सफलता की अनसुनी कहानी".
  6. ^ "SP's Aviation - May 2019 Digital Magazine from Magzter - World's Largest Digital Newsstand". Magzter. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  7. ^ Chauhan, Arvind. "Air Marshal's ancestral village celebrates his appointment as IAF Chief". THE TIMES OF INDIA. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  8. ^ a b c "New Southern Air Command chief takes charge". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  9. ^ a b "IAF Chief inducted into 'Mirpur Hall of Fame' at defence college in Bangladesh". Business World. 25 February 2021.
  10. ^ a b c "Dy Chief of IAF Bhadauria new AOC-in-Chief of Southern Command | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". dna. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  11. ^ "Air Marshal R K Singh Bhadauria takes over as Deputy Chief of Air Staff". The Economic Times. 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  12. ^ "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  13. ^ "SOUTHERN AIR COMMAND". indianairforce.nic.in. Archived from the original on 25 January 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  14. ^ Staff Reporter (9 October 2017). "Shower of warmth at Kovind's maiden visit". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  15. ^ "New chief of IAF Training Command". The Hindu. 3 August 2018.
  16. ^ "IAF training chief SRK Nair retires". The Times of India. 31 July 2018.
  17. ^ @IAF_MCC (1 May 2019). "Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria took over as Vice Chief of the Air Staff today. He took over from Air Marshal Anil Khosla, who superannuated on 30 Apr 19 after 39 years of glorious service" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  18. ^ "Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria PVSM AVSM VM ADC Takes Over as Vice Chief of the Air Staff" (Press release). Press Information Bureau. 1 May 2019.
  19. ^ "Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria appointed as new Indian Air Force chief". India Today. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  20. ^ "In Indian Air Force's Tribute To Outgoing Chief, A Tale Of 2 Sorties". NDTV.com. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  21. ^ RKS Bhadauria Joins BJP: पूर्व वायुसेना प्रमुख आरकेएस भदौरिया बीजेपी में शामिल, देश में राफेल जेट लाने में निभाई थी प्रमुख भूमिका [RKS Bhadauria Joins BJP: Former Air Force Chief RKS Bhadauria joins BJP, played a key role in bringing Rafale jets to the country]. www.abplive.com (in Hindi). 24 March 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  22. ^ "390 Republic Day Gallantry and Other Defence Decorations Announced".
  23. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Air Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 23 May 1981. p. 721.
  24. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Air Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 20 March 1982. p. 402.
  25. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Air Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 2 November 1985. p. 1526.
  26. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Air Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 11 April 1992. p. 681.
  27. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Air Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 15 June 2002. p. 923.
  28. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Air Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 29 January 2005. p. 246.
  29. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Air Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 26 July 2008. p. 1033.
  30. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Air Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 22 October 2011. p. 1986.
  31. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Air Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 2 May 2015. p. 1132.
Military offices Preceded byBirender Singh Dhanoa Chief of Air Staff 30 September 2019 - 30 September 2021 Succeeded byVivek Ram Chaudhari Preceded byAnil Khosla Vice Chief of Air Staff 1 May 2019 - 30 September 2019 Succeeded byHarjit Singh Arora Preceded byS R K Nair Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Training Command 1 August 2018 - 30 April 2019 Succeeded bySurendra Kumar Ghotia Preceded bySunderraman Neelakantan Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Air Command 1 March 2017 - 31 July 2018 Succeeded byBalakrishnan Suresh Preceded byShyam Bihari Prasad Sinha Deputy Chief of the Air Staff 1 January 2016 - 28 February 2017 Succeeded byRaghunath Nambiar Preceded byKS Gill Commandant of the National Defence Academy 1 August 2014 - 30 January 2015 Succeeded byG Ashok Kumar
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