Air Marshal Sreekumar Prabhakaran, AVSM, VM is a retired 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 served as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief,

Western Air Command , colors= , colors_label= , battles= 1962 Sino-Indian War, 1971 India-Pakistan War, Operation Meghdoot , anniversaries= , commander1= Air Marshal Sreekumar Prabhakaran, AVSM, VM , commander1_label= Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief(AOC-in-C) , n ...

. He assumed the office on 1 March 2022 and superannuated on 31 December 2022. Previously, he served as the Commandant of Air Force Academy,

Dundigal Dundigal, officially Dundigal Gandimaisamma, is a city and a municipality in Medchal-Malkajgiri district in the Indian state of Telangana. It is the mandal headquarters of Dundigal mandal in Malkajgiri revenue division of Medchal-Malkajgiri dis ...

Early life and education

Sreekumar Prabhakaran is a native of

Kannur Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and a municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the major port city and commercial hu ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. He is a graduate of Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and an alumnus of the prestigious National Defence Academy, Khadagwasla and National Defence College,

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

Career

Sreekumar Prabhakaran was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force on 22 December 1983 from Air Force Academy,

. He has flying experience of over 4,800 hours on a variety of fighter aircraft and has commanded the venerable

Surya Kiran Surya Kiran () is an aerobatics demonstration team of the Indian Air Force. The Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team (SKAT) was formed in 1996 and are a part of the 52nd Squadron of the IAF. The team has since performed numerous demonstrations usually w ...

display team. Sreekumar Prabhakaran has commanded the

display team and under him the team has participated in over 150 accident free public display. The team was awarded the Chief of Air Staff's Unit Citation under his command. With a long career of 37 years. He has served as senior directing staff (Air) at DSSC, Wellington and has commanded two flying bases. He also served as the Defence Attache at

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

from 2007 to 2010. He served as the Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) of

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 ...

. He also served as Director General (Flight Inspection & Safety) He assumed the charge of Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief,

on 1 March 2022 succeeding Air Marshal Amit Dev. He superannuated on 31 December 2022 and was succeeded by Air Marshal Pankaj Mohan Sinha.

Honours and decorations

During his career, Sreekumar Prabhakaran has been awarded the Vayu Sena Medal (VM) in 2005 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prabhakaran, Sreekumar Indian Air Force air marshals Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Vayu Sena Medal Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Commandants of the Indian Air Force Academy Indian air attachés Commandants of College of Air Warfare Defence Services Staff College alumni National Defence College, India alumni