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 ...

Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria (born 15 September 1959), is a retired

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 ...

officer, who served as the Chief of the Air Staff of the

, having assumed office on 30 September 2019 after the retirement of

Birender Singh Dhanoa Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, VM, ADC is an Indian air force officer who was the 22nd Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force and served from 31 December 2016 to 30 September 2019. Dhanoa also served as the ...

. He retired on 30 September 2021 and was succeeded by

Vivek Ram Chaudhari Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari, is an air officer of the Indian Air Force. He currently serves as the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS). He took over as the 27th CAS succeeding Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria on 30 September 2 ...

Early life and education

Bhadauria is from Korath, a village of tahsil Bah District

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

. He is born in a Rajput family. His father, Suraj Pal Singh Bhadauria, too served in the

as a Junior Commissioned Officer and retired with the rank of Master Warrant Officer. Bhadauria is an alumnus of

Defence Services Command and Staff College The Defence Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC) is situated at Batalanda, Makola (South) 12 Kilometers away from Colombo and its aim to develop the professional knowledge and understanding of experienced officers of the Sri Lanka Army, Sri ...

Bangladesh,

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 ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

and holds a Masters in Defence studies from Command and Staff College.

Career

Bhadauria was commissioned into the fighter stream of the

on 15 June 1980 with the Sword of Honour. He has clocked over 4,250 hours of flying and has experience on 26 different types of fighter jets and transport aircraft. He held several key operational and administrative appointments at various stages of his service including Commander of a Jaguar Squadron at a front line base in South-Western sector; Commanding Officer of Flight Test Squadron at Aircraft and System Testing Establishment; Chief Test Pilot and Project Director of National Flight Test Centre on the Tejas LCA project; Air Attache in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

; Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Projects); Commandant of the National Defence Academy; Senior Air Staff Officer at Central Air Command and Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (1 January 2016 - 28 February 2017). He is also an experimental Test Pilot, a Category A qualified Flying Instructor and a Pilot Attack Instructor. Bhadauria served as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), Southern Air Command from 1 March 2017, succeeding Air Marshal Sunderraman Neelakantan, to 1 August 2018. He also served as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), Training Command from 1 August 2018 after retirement of Air Marshal

S R K Nair Air Marshal Sreedhara Panicker Radha Krishnan Nair (born 7 July 1958), Param Vishisht Seva Medal, PVSM, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, AVSM, Vayu Sena Medal, VM, Mentioned in dispatches, Mention in Dispatches is a retired officer of Indian Air Force wh ...

, and held the office till his elevation to the Vice Chief of the Air Staff. He took office of Vice Chief of the Air Staff on 1 May 2019 after the retirement of Air Marshal Anil Khosla. On 19 September 2019 he was appointed as the Chief of Air Staff. He retired on 30 September 2021.

Personal life

He is married to Asha Bhadauria and they have two children namely Sonali Singh and Sourabh Bhadauria. His Father is Mr. Suraj Pal Singh Bhadauria, who is also from IAF, and a VSM holder. Hs mother's name is Mrs. Vidhya Vati.

Awards and decorations

During 41 years of his career, Bhadauria has been awarded several medals: the

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 ...

(January 2013), the

Vayu Sena Medal The Vayu Sena Medal is a military decoration, usually awarded in peacetime for a job well done in the Indian Air Force. However, it has been granted during times of conflict for acts of gallantry in the face of enemy, though not in the same numb ...

(January 2002). and the

Param Vishisht Seva Medal Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (IAST: ) is a military award of India. It was constituted in 1960 and since then it is awarded in recognition to peace-time service of the most exceptional order and may be awarded posthumously. All ranks of the ...

(January 2018). He was appointed as the honorary air force

ADC ADC may refer to: Science and medicine * ADC (gene), a human gene * AIDS dementia complex, neurological disorder associated with HIV and AIDS * Allyl diglycol carbonate or CR-39, a polymer * Antibody-drug conjugate, a type of anticancer treatm ...

to the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

on 1 January 2019. He was inducted into Mirpur Hall of Fame at

, Bangladesh.

Dates of rank

References

Notes

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhadauria, Rakesh Kumar Singh Living people Chiefs of Air Staff (India) Vice Chiefs of Air Staff (India) Commandants of the National Defence Academy Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Vayu Sena Medal National Defence Academy (India) alumni 1959 births Indian air attachés pa:ਰਾਕੇਸ਼ ਕੁਮਾਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਭਦੌਰਿਆ