Air Chief Marshal
Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer originating from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. An air chief marshal is equivalent to an Admir ...
President of Pakistan
The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The CAS is the highest-ranking officer of the Pakistan Air Force and only pilots are appointed in this post.
The Chief of the Air Staff is a senior most military appointment in the Pakistani military who is a senior member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee in a separate capacity, usually providing necessary consultation to the Chairman joint chiefs to act as a principal military adviser to the Prime Minister and its civilian government in the line of defending and guarding the nation's airspace and aerial borders.
The Chief of the Air Staff exercise its responsibility of command and control of the operational, administration, combatant, logistics, and training commands within the Air Force. Due to its statute, the Chief of the Air Staff maintain its importance of providing the
strategic control Strategic control is the process used by organizations to control the formation and execution of strategic plans; it is a specialised form of management control, and differs from other forms of management control (in particular from operational con ...
and final decision-making issues relating the nation's
national security
National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...
.
The appointment, in principle, is constitutionally subjected for three years but extensions may be granted by the President upon recommendations and approvals from the Prime Minister. The Chief of the Air Staff is based at the Air Headquarters, and the current Chief of the Air Staff is the Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Baber.
History
The Pakistan Air Force was created from the partition of the Royal Indian Air Force after the partition of India in 1947, and were commanded by the appointments approved by the British Air Council. The position was then-known as the Commander in Chief who would directly report to the Governor-General who was also under British monarchs. At first, the office was held by the two-star rank air officer, an
Air Vice Marshal
Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...
, and later upgraded to a three-star rank, Air Marshal. The British Air Council continued making the appointment at the command level until 1957, when Pakistan had promoted a local air officer to the commanding position.
On 20 March 1972, the title of the office was changed from "Commander in Chief" to the "Chief of Air Staff" with Air Marshal Zafar Chaudhry being appointed as the first person to hold the latter title. The Air Force had its first four-star rank officer, an
Air Chief Marshal
Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer originating from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. An air chief marshal is equivalent to an Admir ...
, in 1974. The term of the
superannuation
A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...
was then constrained to three years in the office as opposed to four years and air chief was made a permanent member of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Since 1974, there has been 14 four-star rank air force officers who have commanded the air force as its air chief.
The Chief of the Air Staff is nominated and appointed by the Prime Minister whose appointment is then confirmed by the President. The air force leadership is based in the AHQ in Islamabad, at the vicinity of the Navy Headquarters.
The Chief of the Air Staff leads the functions of the AHQ, assisted by the civilians from the Air Force Secretariat-II of the
Ministry of Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
(MoD). The Chief of the Air Staff exercise its responsibility of complete operational, training and logistics commands. In addition, the Air chief has several staff officers:-
* Vice Chief of Air Staff
**Deputy Chief of the Air Staff Aerial Support (DCAS(S))
**Deputy Chief of the Air Staff Training and Evaluation (DCAS (T&E))
**Deputy Chief of the Air Staff Air Operations (DCAS AO)
**Deputy Chief of the Air Staff Personnel (DCAS P)
**Deputy Chief of the Air Staff Engineering (DCAS (E))
**Director-General
C4ISTAR
Command and control (abbr. C2) is a "set of organizational and technical attributes and processes ... hatemploys human, physical, and information resources to solve problems and accomplish missions" to achieve the goals of an organization or en ...
The following tables chronicle the appointees to the office of the Chief of the Air Staff or its preceding positions since the
independence of Pakistan
The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the per ...
partition of India
The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...
, hence the Royal Pakistan Air Force was formed in 1947. It was then headed by a Commander-in-Chief.
Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force (1956–72)
Pakistan became an Islamic republic in 23 March 1956, hence royal was dropped from the name of the air force.
Chiefs of Air Staff of Pakistan Air Force (1972–present)
Pakistan Air Force ranks
The ranking structure as well as rank insignia of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) are primarily based on the ranking structure of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force. The insignia for PAF officer ranks underwent an extensive change in 2006, where ...