Air Marshal Saju Balakrishnan, AVSM, VM is an officer of 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 is currently serving as the 17th Commander-in-Chief,

Andaman and Nicobar Command The Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) is the first and only Joint warfare, tri-service Theater (warfare), theater command of the Indian Armed Forces, based at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India. It was cre ...

(CINCAN). He assumed the office on 1 May 2023 succeeding

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Ajai Singh.

Early life and education

Saju Balakrishnan is an alumnus of Sanik School, Kazhakootam and National Defence Academy,

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 ...

. He has done the staff course from

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

, United Kingdom.

Career

Saju Balakrishnan was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force on June 1986. In a career spanning over 37 years, he has as more than 3,200 hours of flying experience across various variants of MiG-21 and Kiran aircraft. He is an accomplished fighter combat leader and experimental test pilot. He served as the Commanding officer of No. 32 Squadron sporting the MiG-21 Bison and was the first commanding officer of the No. 50 Squadron featuring AWACS aircraft. As Air Commodore, he served as the Air Officer Commanding of 32 Wing at the

Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the Ki ...

sector in the

South Western Air Command Victory embraces the brave , colors= , colors_label= , battles= Atlantique incident, Bhuj earthquake relief, 2001, Gujarat flood relief, 2005 , anniversaries= , commander1= Air Marshal Vikram Singh, VSM , commander1_label= Air Officer Co ...

. Later, he did the staff course from

, United Kingdom. As

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 ...

, he served as the Assistant Chief of Integrated Defense Staff, ACIDS (Pers Plans & Force). Later, he served as the Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Air Defence, New Delhi. After his promotion to Air Marshal on 8 March 2022, he served as the Senior Air Staff Officer, Training Command till 30 April 2023. He took over as the Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command on 1 May 2023 from

Ajai Singh. He is the first Indian Air Force Air Marshal in a decade to head the CINAC.

Honours and decorations

During his career, Saju Balakrishnan has been awarded 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 ...

in 2021 and

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 ...

in 2012 for his service.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saju, Balakrishnan Living people Indian Air Force air marshals Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Vayu Sena Medal Year of birth missing (living people)