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 ...

Michael John O'Brian (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' 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 ...

in the

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

(PAF) who served as the

Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

National Defence University, Islamabad , native_name_lang = ur , image = National Defence University, Pakistan Logo.png , image_upright = , image_alt = , caption = Seal of the NDU , former_name = National Defence College , motto ...

. O'Brian was the first Pakistan Air Force officer to serve as the Commandant of the university. He also served as the Deputy Chief of Air Staff, and was one of the distinguished Christian pilots who participated in Indo-Pakistan wars of 1947, 1965, and the 1971.

Early life

Born into a South Asian Christian family in Lahore, O'Brian enlisted in the

Royal Indian Air Force The Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) was the aerial force of British India and later the Dominion of India. Along with the Indian Army, and Royal Indian Navy, it was one of the Armed Forces of British Indian Empire. The Indian Air Force was offi ...

in 1946. O'Brian studied in

Forman Christian College Forman Christian College is an private liberal arts university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was founded in 1864 and is administered by the Presbyterian Church. The university follows an American-style curriculum. Founded in 1864 by America ...

He opted for

Pakistani citizenship Pakistani nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds Pakistani nationality. The primary law governing nationality regulations is the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951, which came into force on 13 April 1951. With few exceptions ...

in 1947, and actively participated in Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. After the war, O'Brian pursued his BSc in mathematics in Forman Christian College in 1948. O'Brian is a graduate of

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 ...

's College of Flying Training where he gained a BS_in_Aviation_Sciences,_also_receiving_a_Certified_Diploma_in_Flying_from_the_Flying_Instructors_School._O'Brian_holds_a_MSc_in_Military_Science_and_an_Honorary_degree.html" ;"title="Military_Science.html" ;"title="BS in Aviation Sciences, also receiving a Certified Diploma in Flying from the Flying Instructors School. O'Brian holds a MSc in Military Science">BS in Aviation Sciences, also receiving a Certified Diploma in Flying from the Flying Instructors School. O'Brian holds a MSc in Military Science and an Honorary degree">honorary PhD in War studies from National Defence University, Islamabad.

Military career

O'Brian was one of the distinguished and pioneering Pakistan Air Force, PAF fighter pilots who participated in the

Indo-Pakistani wars Since the Partition of India, Partition of British India in 1947 and subsequent creation of the dominions of Dominion of India, India and Dominion of Pakistan, Pakistan, the two countries have been involved in a number of wars, conflicts, and m ...

of 1947, 1965, and 1971. A fighter pilot, O'Brian played an important role in setting up the training institutes within the Pakistan Air Force. He was promoted to Air Vice Marshal in 1969, and led military missions in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. After the war O'Brian achieved the penultimate position in PAF and served as the Deputy Chief of Air Staff. Air Vice Marshal O'Brian also achieved a rare distinction as having been the only PAF Officer to serve as the Commandant of National Defence College. In 1974, O'Brian was given command of Sargodha Air Force base. O'Brian played an important and significant role in the up-grading of the facility. He also supervised the nuclear test sites near Kirana Hills, and personally oversaw the construction of the test site. O'Brian was a senior member of the military unit Special Development Works (SDW) headed by

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

Mohammed Sarfaraz. As a military intellectual, he played an important role in the nuclear policy of Pakistan. In March 1983, the first experiment of a cold-test of a nuclear device was headed by

Ishfaq Ahmad Ishfaq Ahmad Khan (3 November 1930 – 18 January 2018) , was a Pakistani nuclear physicist, emeritus professor of high-energy physics at the National Centre for Physics, and former science advisor to the Government of Pakistan. A versatile ...

and

Munir Ahmad Khan Munir Ahmad Khan ( ur, ; 20 May 1926 – 22 April 1999), , was a Pakistani nuclear reactor physicist who is credited, among others, with being the "father of the atomic bomb program" of Pakistan for their leading role in developing their nati ...

. All they needed next was some fissile material and they would have had an atomic bomb, as pointed out by Houston Wood, Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA in his article on gas centrifuges. O'Brian was one of the senior military officials who eye-witnessed the first cold test of a nuclear device. For his services, he was conferred with civil awards, and O'Brian took honorary retirement from the Pakistan Air Force in 1984, and joined the National Defence University, Islamabad, as a professor of

War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

and Strategic studies. O'Brian retired in 1994 and lived a quiet life 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 ...

, Pakistan, where he died in 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrian, Michael John 1928 births 1998 deaths Pakistan Air Force personnel Pakistan Air Force officers Pakistan Air Force air marshals Pakistani aviators Recipients of Sitara-e-Jurat Pakistani Christians Military personnel from Lahore Project-706 Chiefs of Air Staff, Pakistan Forman Christian College alumni National Defence University, Pakistan faculty

Early life

Military career

See also

References