Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria takes over as IAF chief after ACM BS Dhanoa retires from service

Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria on Monday took charge as the Indian Air Force (IAF) chief after his predecessor Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, retired from office. The Centre, on 19 September, appointed Bhadauria to the post. “Government has decided to appoint Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria, PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC presently Vice Chief of Air Staff as the next Chief of the Air Staff,” a tweet by the official Twitter handle of Principal Spokesperson, Ministry of Defence (MoD) read.

Delhi: Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa demits office of the Chief of Air Staff on superannuation; Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria takes charge as the Chief of the Indian Air Force. pic.twitter.com/VknFnrbPuB

— ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2019

Prior to being appointed as the vice chief, Bhaduaria was heading IAF’s Bengaluru-based Training Command. As the IAF deputy chief, he was the chairman of the Indian negotiating team for the 36 Rafale combat aircraft deal with France. Bhadauria was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Air Force on 15 June, 1980, with the ‘Sword of Honour.’ He went on to hold several important positions such as Commandant of the National Defence Academy, Senior Air Staff Officer at the Central Air Command and Deputy Chief of the Air Staff from January 2016 to 28 February, 2017. Bhadauria served as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), Southern Air Command from 1 March, 2017. He took over as the chief of Bengaluru-based Training Command on 1 August, 2018. With inputs from agencies