Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari Appointed Next IAF Chief, RKS Bhadauria To Retire On Sept 30

This move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government comes as Chief of Air Staff, RKS Bhadauria, is set to retire from service on September 30.

New Delhi: Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari, presently the Vice Chief of Air Staff, has been appointed the next Indian Air Force (IAF) chief.

This move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government comes as Chief of Air Staff, RKS Bhadauria, is set to retire from service on September 30.

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“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. Current Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC retires from Service on 30th Sep 2021,” Defence Ministry spokesman A. Bharat Bhushan Babu tweeted while informing about the appointment.

Air Marshal Chaudhari was commissioned into the Fighter Stream of the Indian Air Force on December 29, 1982.

He has held various Command, Staff and Instructional Appointments at various levels, including the present one as the Vice Chief of Air Staff.

Air Marshal Chaudhari has been awarded several medals - the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM), the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) and the Vayu Sena Medal - during his career.

He has a flying experience of over 3800 hours on various fighter aircraft, including MiG-21, MiG-23MF, MiG-29 and Su-30MKI.