VR Chaudhari succeeded the retired Air Marshal B Suresh.
New Delhi:
Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari took up his duties on Saturday as Commander-in-Chief of Western Air Command (WAC) of the Indian Air Force, which is responsible for the security of the country’s airspace in the sensitive area of Ladakh as well as in various other regions of northern India. .
He succeeds Air Marshal B Suresh who is retiring from service.
A former student of the National Defense Academy, Air Marshal Chaudhari was commissioned in the IAF Fighter Stream on December 29, 1982.
During a distinguished career spanning nearly 38 years, the officer has flown a wide variety of fighter and trainer aircraft in the IAF inventory. He has a flight experience of over 3800 hours, including operational flight on MiG-21, MiG-23 MF, MiG 29 and Su-30 MKI fighter jets.
Air Marshal Chaudhari has held many important positions. He was the commanding officer of a front line fighter squadron and also commanded a front line fighter base. As Air Marshal, he served as the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff.
His appointment as head of WAC comes as he bolsters operational deployment in eastern Ladakh due to the border with China.
The IAF has carried out night combat air patrols in the eastern region of Ladakh in recent weeks.
It has already deployed almost all of its frontline fighter jets like the Sukhoi 30 MKI, Jaguar and Mirage 2000 aircraft to border bases in Ladakh as well as several other locations along the Actual Line of Control (LAC).
Air Marshal Chaudhari also participated in the Rafale acquisition program.
He served as a Senior Air Staff Officer in Eastern Air Command before assuming charge of Western Command, based in Delhi.
In recognition of distinguished service, the Air Marshal received the Vayu Sena Medal in January 2004 and the Ati Vishist Seva Medal in January 2015.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
