Air Marshal Major

New Delhi, Jan. 30: The Centre today named Air Marshal Fali Homi Major as the next chief of the Indian Air Force.

Air Marshal Major is currently the air officer commanding-in-chief of the Shillong-headquartered eastern air command.

He will be the first helicopter pilot to be appointed to the post. Air Marshal Major will become Air Chief Marshal on taking office as Chief of Air Staff on March 31 when Air Chief Marshal Shashi P. Tyagi retires. He is expected to serve till May 2009.

In appointing Major — an expert in helicopter gunships — as Chief of Air Staff, the government has gone by the book and passed on the office to the seniormost Air Marshal.

There were four contenders for the post who were named in a shortlist forwarded by Air Headquarters, three of whom were from the stream of fighter plane pilots. Fighter pilots claim they are the teeth of the IAF and, despite being chary of voicing their opinion in public, believe that the air chief's post should go to one from among their number.

This is the third time that the Chief of Air Staff will not be from among fighter aircraft pilots. Air Chief Marshal Om Prakash Mehra, who was chief of air staff from January 16, 1973, to January 31, 1976, was a transport aircraft pilot. But he had flown fighter aircraft. Air Chief Marshal Idris Hasan Latif flew Spitfire fighters in World War II for the Royal Indian Air Force but converted to transport aircraft in the IAF. He was Chief of Air Staff from September 1978 to August 1981.

Air Marshal Major will be the 21st chief of the Indian Air Force — that is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. The first Indian to head the air force was Air Marshal Subroto Mukherjee in April 1954, seven years after Independence.

In his 39 years of service in the IAF, the highly-decorated Air Marshal Major has worked in a range of command, staff and instructional appointments. He has 7765 flying hours.

Major commanded a helicopter unit which took part in the world’s highest battlefield operations in Siachen Glacier and commanded a MI-17 squadron during IPKF operations in Sri Lanka for which he was decorated with the Vayu Sena Medal (gallantry).