Air Chief Marshal Jamal Ahmad Khan Afridi ( ur, ; b. 15 April 1934) is a retired four-star

air officer An air officer is an air force officer of the rank of air commodore or higher. Such officers may be termed "officers of air rank". While the term originated in the Royal Air Force, air officers are also to be found in many Commonwealth nations ...

who served as the Chief of Air Staff of the

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

from 1985 until 1988. He also commanded the

United Arab Emirates Air Force The United Arab Emirates Air Force (UAEAF) ( ar, القوات الجوية والدفاع الجوي الاماراتي, al-Quwwāt al-Jawiyah wa al-Defa' al-Jawiy al-ʾImārāty) is the air force of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), part of the ...

from 1977 until 1980.

Biography

83d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron - F-104s 1958

Jamal Ahmad Khan was born in

Kaimganj Kaimganj is a town in Farrukhabad district in the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh. Kaimganj Railway Station is a major station between Farrukhabad and Kasganj on Rajputana railway link of North Eastern Railway. Description Kaimganj is just 10&nb ...

Farrukhabad district Farrukhabad district is a district of Uttar Pradesh state in Northern India. The town of Fatehgarh is the district headquarters. The district is part of Kanpur Division. Farrukhabad is situated between Lat. 26° 46' N & 27° 43' N and L ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, on 15 April 1934. In 1952, after the partition of India, he joined the

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

(PAF). He was sent to attend the

Pakistan Air Force Academy The Pakistan Air Force Academy Asghar Khan ( ur, ) is an accredited three-year military academy which provides undergraduate education to officer candidates for the Pakistan Air Force. The eligible and selected candidates from all over Pakista ...

Risalpur Risalpur (Pashto/ ur, رسالپور) is a city in Nowshera District, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, on the Nowshera-Mardan Road. It is nearly 45 km from Peshawar and 18 km from Mardan and is located at 34°4'52N 71°58'21E. In a basin so ...

, and was one of the few cadets who were selected to attend the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and U ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Upon completing the pilot training program from the USAF Academy in 1953, Jamal was commissioned in the No. 11 Squadron ''Arrows'', initially trained to fly the British

Supermarine Attacker The Supermarine Attacker is a British single-seat naval jet fighter designed and produced by aircraft manufacturer Supermarine for the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA). The type has the distinction of being the first jet fighter to enter oper ...

. He was further trained in the United States as a

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

, eventually qualified to fly the

Lockheed F-104 Starfighter The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is an American single-engine, supersonic air superiority fighter which was extensively deployed as a fighter-bomber during the Cold War. Created as a day fighter by Lockheed as one of the "Century Series" of fi ...

. In 1965, Squadron-Leader Jamal flew his F-104 to intercept an Indian Air Force

English Electric Canberra The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havil ...

at above, shooting down the Canberra with a

Sidewinder missile The AIM-9 Sidewinder (where "AIM" stands for "Air Intercept Missile") is a short-range air-to-air missile which entered service with the US Navy in 1956 and subsequently was adopted by the US Air Force in 1964. Since then the Sidewinder has prove ...

near the

Fazilka district Fazilka district is one of new and 23 districts in the state of Punjab in India. The district headquarters of the Fazilka District are at Fazilka. History On 27 July 2011, the Government of Punjab created two new districts: Fazilka district by ...

, inside Pakistani territory. This was recorded as the first kill achieved by an F-104 at night after a number of near misses. In 1971, Wing-Commander Jamal continued flying his F-104 on the western front of the third war with

. Wg-Cdr. Jamal shot down another Canberra with an AIM-9B missile; the Canberra pilot perished. After the war, Group Captain Jamal was posted to a Command Operations Center at the Air Headquarters (AHQ) in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

until appointed as

base commander The base commander is the officer assigned to command a military base. In the United States armed forces, a base commander is generally at least an O-6 grade officer, which means colonel (Army, Air Force, Marines) or captain (Navy, Coast Guard). ...

of the Sargodha Air Force Base. In 1975, Air Commodore Jamal joined the JAG Corps, Air Force, appointed its

chief inspector Chief inspector (Ch Insp) is a rank used in police forces which follow the British model. In countries outside Britain, it is sometimes referred to as chief inspector of police (CIP). Usage by country Australia The rank of chief inspector is us ...

and later judge advocate general. For some time, Air Cdre. Jamal served as the ACAS (Plans) at the AHQ before being promoted to the

two-star rank An officer of two-star rank is a senior commander in many of the armed services holding a rank described by the NATO code of OF-7. The term is also used by some armed forces which are not NATO members. Typically, two-star officers hold the rank ...

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 ...

(AVM). In 1977, AVM Jamal was posted as an

AOC Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of ...

at the Pakistan Armed Forces–Middle East Command, and

seconded In deliberative bodies a second to a proposed motion is an indication that there is at least one person besides the mover that is interested in seeing the motion come before the meeting. It does not necessarily indicate that the seconder favors th ...

to command the

until 1980. During this time, AVM Jamal took over the command of the Pakistan Armed Forces–Middle East Command, serving as its commander until 1980. Upon returning, AVM Jamal flew the

MiG-19 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-19; NATO reporting name: Farmer) is a Soviet second generation, single-seat, twinjet fighter aircraft, the world's first mass-produced supersonic aircraft. It was the ...

and

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 nickn ...

for test trial purposes. During this time, he went to the

to complete his training to fly the F-16A. He was the first Pakistani to fly the F-16A in the United States, and later returned to Pakistan. In 1982–83, Air-Marshal Jamal was appointed as DCAS (Air Operations), and later appointed as Vice Chief of the Air Staff in 1984. In 1985, Air-Mshl. Jamal was promoted to four-star rank, Air Chief Marshal (ACM), and took over command of the Pakistan Air Force as its Chief of Air Staff. In 1987, ACM Jamal launched the project to develop and design a fighter jet, with

Grumman Aerospace The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1994 ...

as its consultant. After completing his tenure, ACM Jamal was succeeded by ACM H.K. Durrani on 6 March 1988. After his retirement, he settled in Islamabad, and worked as an aviation historian, contributing to the book on aerial aviation, ''The Story of the Pakistan Air Force, 1988-1998: A Battle Against Odds''.

Awards & Decorations

References

External links

PAF s' Chief of Air Staffs
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Jamal A. 1934 births People from Farrukhabad district Muhajir people Pakistani expatriates in the United States United States Air Force Academy alumni Pakistan Air Force officers Pakistani test pilots Pilots of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Pakistani flying aces Pakistani military personnel of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Pilots of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Chiefs of Air Staff (United Arab Emirates) Pakistan Air Force air marshals Chiefs of Air Staff, Pakistan Military government of Pakistan (1977–1988) Recipients of Sitara-e-Jurat Recipients of Nishan-e-Imtiaz Pakistani military historians Living people Pakistani expatriates in the United Arab Emirates

Biography

Awards & Decorations

See also

References

External links