Air Marshal VR Chaudhari, presently Vice Chief of Air Staff, will be the next Chief of Air Staff, the government of India informed on Tuesday. The current Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria will retire from the service on September 30, 2021, the defence ministry informed.
Defence Ministry spokesman A Bharat Bhushan Babu tweeted: “Government has decided to appoint Air Marshal V R Chaudhari, PVSM, AVSM, VM presently Vice Chief of Air Staff as the next Chief of Air Staff.”
Having flown a variety of fighter aircraft and with a flying experience of more than 3,800 hours, Chaudhari was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on December 29, 1982.
Chaudhari had taken over as the vice chief on July 1 this year, after Air Marshal HS Arora, who retired after over 39 years of service.
Air Marshal Chaudhari was Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Air Command from August 1, 2020.
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Decorated with Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Vayu Sena Medal, the Air Officer has held various command, staff and instructional appointments at various levels.
As an Air Vice Marshal, he has been Deputy Commandant, Air Force Academy, Assistant Chief of Air Staff Operations (Air Defence) and Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Personnel Officers). He has also held the coveted appointments of Deputy Chief of the Air Staff at Air HQ and Senior Air Staff Officer at Eastern Air Command, the IAF statement read.
He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. Prior to the present appointment, he was Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of the Western Air Command.
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