Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (India) explained

Post:Deputy Chief
Body:the Air Staff
Flag:File:Flag of Air marshal (India).svg
Flagsize:150px
Flagcaption:Flag of an Air Marshal
Incumbent:Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, AVSM, VM, VSM
Incumbentsince:15 May 2023
Type:Principal Staff Officer
Abbreviation:DCAS
Reports To:Chief of the Air Staff
Seat:Air Headquarters, New Delhi
First:Air Vice Marshal Subroto Mukerjee

The Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (DCAS) is a senior appointment in the Indian Air Force.[1] The DCAS is a PSO (Principal Staff Officer) at Air Force Headquarters in New Delhi. The office is held by a Three Star Officer in the rank of Air Marshal. The current DCAS is Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit who took over from Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari on 15 May 2023.

History

At the time of independence of India on 15 August 1947, Air Commodore Subroto Mukerjee was appointed Deputy Air Commander, Royal Indian Air Force, in addition to being Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) at the newly-formed Air HQ.[2] On 15 November the same year, he was promoted to the acting rank of Air Vice Marshal. In 1949, the RIAF was reorganised and the post was re-designated Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (DCAS). The DCAS continued to be the Deputy Air Commander. On 1 January 1963, the post of Vice Chief of the Air Staff was created and became the second-highest post of the Indian Air Force.[3] In 1968, the post was upgraded to three-star rank Air Marshal.[1]

Order of precedence

The DCAS ranks at No. 24 on the Indian order of precedence, along with Lieutenant Generals of the Indian Army and Vice Admirals of the Indian Navy. The DCAS is in the HAG+ pay scale (pay level 16), and draws salary depending on the years in service. However, since they should not draw equivalent or more than the next higher level, the remuneration is capped at ₹224,000.[4] [5]

Appointees

S.No. RankNameAssumed officeLeft officeNotes
Deputy Air Commander, Royal Indian Air Force
1Subroto Mukerjee15 August 194731 January 1949
Deputy Chief of the Air Staff
1Air Vice MarshalSubroto Mukerjee1 February 194916 December 1952
2Aspy Merwan Engineer17 December 195230 April 1958[6]
3Diwan Atma Ram Nanda1 May 1958 31 December 1962[7]
4Arjan Singh1 January 19634 August 1963
5Ramaswamy Rajaram5 August 196330 September 1964[8]
6Minoo Merwan Engineer1 October 196428 February 1968[9]
7Air Marshal1 March 19684 August 1969
8Om Prakash Mehra7 August 196928 February 1971
9Hirendra Nath Chatterjee30 March 197131 March 1972[10]
10Yeshwant Vinayak Malse3 May 197231 March 1973[11]
11Hari Chand Dewan1 April 197318 October 1973
12Sarosh Jehangir Dastur12 November 197327 June 1974[12]
13Devaiah Subia27 June 197431 March 1977
14Jafar Zaheer20 May 197723 August 1978
15Lal Singh Grewal24 August 197831 January 1980
16Malcolm Wollen16 April 19802 January 1981[13]
17Chandra Kant Viswanath Gole15 January 198130 June 1983[14]
18Kapil Dev Chadha8 July 198331 October 1984
19Johney William Greene1 January 198531 May 1986[15]
20Surinder Mehra1 June 198628 February 1987[16]
21Prithi Singh1 March 198731 July 1988[17]
22Rajendra Kumar Dhawan1 August 19881 April 1990
23Brijesh Dhar Jayal2 April 19906 October 1991[18]
24Trilochan Singh Brar7 October 199130 April 1993
25Prabhat Kumar Varma1 May 199328 February 1994
26Sharadkumar Ramakrishna Deshpande1 March 199431 January 1996
27Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy1 February 199623 July 1996
28Man Mohan Singh Vasudeva24 July 199631 August 1997
29Syed Shahid Hussain Naqvi1 September 199730 September 1999[19]
30Satish Govind Inamdar1 October 199930 November 2000[20]
31Tej Mohan Asthana1 December 200017 March 2002
32Raghu Rajan5 June 200231 March 2004
33Jaspal Singh Gujral1 April 200430 April 2005
34Arvind Kumar Nagalia24 August 200528 February 2007[21]
35Norman Anil Kumar Browne1 March 200731 May 2009[22]
36Nirdosh Vatsyayan Tyagi1 June 200931 January 2011[23]
37Ravi Kant Sharma1 February 201130 November 2012
38Subramanyam Sukumar1 December 201228 February 2014
39Sridharan Panicker Radha Krishnan Nair1 March 201430 April 2014
40Shyam Bihari Prasad Sinha1 May 201431 December 2015[24]
41Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria1 January 201628 February 2017
42Raghunath Nambiar1 March 201730 September 2018
43Vivek Ram Chaudhari1 October 201830 September 2019[25]
44Sandeep Singh1 October 201930 April 2021[26]
45Suraj Kumar Jha1 May 202131 July 2021
46Narmdeshwar Tiwari1 October 202130 April 2023
47Ashutosh Dixit15 May 2023Incumbent [27]
** Went on to become Chief of the Air Staff

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Deputy Chief of Air Staff Appointments at Air Head Quarters. Bharat Rakshak. 2021-12-25.
  2. Web site: RIAF APPOINTMENTS . archive.pib.gov.in . 14 August 1947. 11 January 2022.
  3. Web site: THE GAZETTE OF INDIA . archive.pib.gov.in . 12 January 1963. 11 January 2022.
  4. Web site: 26 August 1979. President's Secretariat. 2021-12-27. Office of the President of India. Rajya Sabha.
  5. Web site: Table of Precedence (Updated) . Ministry of Home Affairs . 27 December 2021.
  6. Web site: Air Vice Marshal Engineer . pibarchive.nic.in . 2 December 1954.
  7. Web site: AIR FORCE HOCKEY FROM MONDAY . archive.pib.gov.in . 13 November 1959. 12 January 2022.
  8. Web site: AVM RAJARAM NEW COMMANDANT OF NDC . pibarchive.nic.in . 10 January 1966.
  9. Web site: BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES . archive.pib.gov.in . 1 March 1968.
  10. Web site: AIR MARSHAL H. N. CHATTERJEE - NEW DEPUTY AIR CHIEF . archive.pib.gov.in . 18 March 1971. 11 January 2022.
  11. Web site: AIR MARSHAL MALSE APPOINTED VICE CHIEF OF AIR STAFF . archive.pib.gov.in . 12 January 2022 . 17 March 1973.
  12. Web site: DASTUR APPOINTED DEPUTY CHIEF OF AIR STAFF . archive.pib.gov.in . 12 January 2022 . 13 November 1973.
  13. Web site: AIR MARSHAL WOLLEN APPOINTED DEPUTY CHIEF OF AIR STAFF . archive.pib.gov.in . 15 April 1980. 12 January 2022.
  14. Web site: AIR MARSHAL GOLE APPOINTED DEPUTY CHIEF OF AIR STAFF . archive.pib.gov.in . 15 January 1981. 12 January 2022.
  15. Web site: AIR VICE MARSHAL GREENE PROMOTED AND APPOINTED DEPUTY CHIEF OF AIR STAFF . archive.pib.gov.in . 2 January 1985. 12 January 2022.
  16. Web site: NEW APPOINTMENT FOR AIR MARSHAL MEHRA . archive.pib.gov.in . 12 January 2022 . 27 February 1987.
  17. Web site: PIB (Defence Wing) . archive.pib.gov.in . 12 January 2022 . 30 July 1988.
  18. Web site: AIR JAYAL APPOINTED DEPUTY CHIEF OF AIR STAFF . archive.pib.gov.in . 12 January 2022 . 8 April 1990.
  19. Web site: AIR MARSHAL SS HUSSAIN NAQVI IS THE NEW DEPUTY CHIEF OF AIR STAFF . archive.pib.gov.in . 12 January 2022 . 9 September 1997.
  20. Web site: AIR MARSHAL SG INAMDAR TAKES OVER EASTERN AIR COMMAND . archive.pib.gov.in . 12 January 2022 . 1 December 2000.
  21. Web site: Air Marshal AK Nagalia takes over as the Deputy Chief of Air Staff . archive.pib.gov.in . 12 January 2022 . 25 August 2005.
  22. Web site: Air Marshal Nak Browne takes Over as the Vice Chief of Air Staff (VCAS) . archive.pib.gov.in . 12 January 2022 . 1 January 2011.
  23. Web site: One Shaurya Chakra, Three Vayu Sena Medals for Gallant Air Force Pilots. archive.pib.gov.in . 12 January 2022 . 25 January 2011.
  24. Web site: Deputy Chief of Air Staff Flies Tejas . archive.pib.gov.in . 12 January 2022 . 3 September 2014.
  25. Web site: IAF Announces Major Reshuffle, Air Marshal VR Chaudhari Takes Over as Deputy Chief of Air Staff. India.com. 2018-10-08. 2021-12-25.
  26. Web site: Air Marshal Sandeep Singh, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff. SPS Aviation. 2019-09-01. 2021-12-25.
  27. AIR MARSHAL ASHUTOSH DIXIT TAKES OVER AS DEPUTY CHIEF OF THE AIR STAFF. PIB. 2023-05-15.