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]
Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria
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23rd Chief of the Air Staff | |
In office 30 September 2019 – 30 September 2021 | |
President | Ram Nath Kovind |
Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
Preceded by | Birender Singh Dhanoa |
Succeeded by | Vivek Ram Chaudhari |
43rd Vice Chief of the Air Staff | |
In office 1 May 2019 – 30 September 2019 | |
Preceded by | Anil Khosla |
Succeeded by | Harjit Singh Arora |
Personal details | |
Born | (1959-09-15) 15 September 1959 (age 64) Korath, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India |
Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party (2024–present) |
Spouse | Asha Bhadauria |
Military service | |
Allegiance | India |
Branch/service | Indian Air Force |
Years of service | 15 June 1980 - 30 September 2021 |
Rank | Air Chief Marshal |
Unit | No. 23 Squadron |
Commands |
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Service number | 16026[1] |
Awards |
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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]
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]
On 24 March 2024, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of Vinod Tawde, Vishal Singh and Anurag Thakur.[21]
His Father is Mr. Suraj Pal Singh Bhadauria, who is also from IAF, and a VSM holder.[8]
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]
Insignia | Rank | Component | Date of rank |
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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 |
Military offices | ||
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Preceded by | Chief of Air Staff 30 September 2019 - 30 September 2021 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Vice Chief of Air Staff 1 May 2019 - 30 September 2019 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Training Command 1 August 2018 - 30 April 2019 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Air Command 1 March 2017 - 31 July 2018 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Deputy Chief of the Air Staff 1 January 2016 - 28 February 2017 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Commandant of the National Defence Academy 1 August 2014 - 30 January 2015 |
Succeeded by |