Air Marshal Dilip Kumar Patnaik,

AVSM Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) is a military award of India given to recognize "distinguished service of an exceptional order" to all ranks of the armed forces. The award is a peacetime equivalent of Uttam Yuddh Seva Medal, which is a Wartime Dis ...

, VM is a retired officer in the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

. He served as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), Eastern Air Command. He took over the office on 3 October 2021, succeeding of Air Marshal Amit Dev and superannuated on 30 September, 2022. He was succeeded by Air Marshal Sujeet Pushpakar Dharkar.

Early life and education

He is an alumnus of

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services i.e. the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force train together before they go on ...

Khadagwasla and

Defence Services Staff College , motto_lang = sa , mottoeng = ''To War with Wisdom'' , established = (as the ''Army Staff College'', Deolali) , type = Defence Service Training Institute , affiliation = , endowment = , administrative_staff = , faculty = , presi ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

and has done the Higher Air Command Course.

Career

Dilip Kumar Patnaik was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force on June 08, 1984. He has flying experience of 2500 hours various aircraft including

Mig-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nickna ...

and

Mirage 2000 The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine, fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was designed in the late 1970s as a lightweight fighter to replace the Mirage III for the French Air Force (''Arm ...

. Patnaik has served as a mission commander for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Unit and has 800 hours experience as on Searcher MK-II &

Heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

unmanned aircraft. He has held various appointments including commander of an Air Defence Station, Commandant of Electronic Warfare Range and as a commander of a front-line fighter base. He had served as the Principal Director (Information & Electronic Warfare) at Air HQ, Assistant Chief of Air Staff Operations (Air Defence), Commandant of the prestigious College of Air Warfare,

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

. Previous to his present assignment, he had served as Senior Air Staff Officer for the

Central Air Command ''Nigrahya Rasava shastrava'' , colors = , colors_label = , battles = 1962 Sino-Indian War, East Pakistan Operations 1971, Operation Meghdoot, Orissa Super-Cyclone Relief, 1999 , anniversaries = , commander1 = Air Marshal Amar Preet Si ...

from 1 August 2020 to 2 October 2021. Patnaik has conducted many live bombing missions during Kargil conflict.

Honours and decorations

During his career, Dilip Kumar Patnaik has been awarded the Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry) for his contribution in

Kargil War The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referr ...

and

Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) is a military award of India given to recognize "distinguished service of an exceptional order" to all ranks of the armed forces. The award is a peacetime equivalent of Uttam Yuddh Seva Medal, which is a Wartime Dis ...

in 2020.

Personal life

Dilip Kumar Patnaik is married to Mrs Anuradha Patnaik who is President of Air Force Wives Welfare Association (Regional). The couple is blessed with a son named Bramhtej Patnaik.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patnaik, Dilip Kumar Indian Air Force air marshals Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Vayu Sena Medal Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Commandants of College of Air Warfare Defence Services Staff College alumni College of Air Warfare alumni