Air Marshal Vipin Indira Panabhan Nayar,

AVSM 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 ...

, 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 served as the 28th

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 ...

of the

Air Force Academy An air force academy or air academy is a national institution that provides initial officer training, possibly including undergraduate level education, to air force officer cadets who are preparing to be commissioned officers in a national air forc ...

. He assumed the office on 1 August 2020 succeeding Air Marshal Jonnalagedda Chalapati. He served till his superannuation on 31 July 2021

Early life and education

Vipin Indira Panabhan Nayar is an alumnus of Sanik School,

Kazhakootam Kazhakoottam is a major suburb in the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala state, India. The largest IT Park of the country in terms of developed area Technopark along with Technocity an upcoming integrated IT township is situated here. ...

from 1978 batch. He is a graduate of the

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 ...

Defence Services Staff College , motto_lang = sa , mottoeng = ''To War with Wisdom'' , established = (as the ''Army Staff College'', Deolali) , type = Defence Service Training Institute , affiliation = , endowment = , administrative_staff = , faculty = , presi ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

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

Vipin Indira Panabhan Nayar was commissioned in the flying branch of the Indian Air Force. In a career spanning over 39 years, he has as more than 6,000 hours of flying experience across various types of transport aircraft, trainer aircraft and gliders. He has held various instructional tenures include stints at

, Basic Flying Training School,

Prayagraj Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

and Fixed Wing Training Faculty at Air Force Station Yelahanka,

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. As

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

, he served as the Commanding Officer of the No. 41 Squadron at

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 ...

. As

Group Captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

, he served as the Commanding Officer of the No. 33 Squadron at

Sulur Sulur (Tamil language, Tamil:) is a town located in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, India. It is a suburb of Coimbatore. It is the headquarters of Sulur taluk, Sulur Taluk of Coimbatore district. There are many market places and many b ...

. As Air Commodore, he served as the Principal Director for Operations, Transport and Helicopters. Later, he served as the Air Officer Commanding of 3 Wing in

. Afterwards, he served as the Principal Director for Space operations. 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 Senior Directing Staff (Air) at the National Defence College,

. After his promotion to Air Marshal, he served as the

of the

till 15 December 2019. Later, he took over as the Senior Air Staff Officer of the

Central Air Command ''Nigrahya Rasava shastrava'' , colors = , colors_label = , battles = 1962 Sino-Indian War, East Pakistan Operations 1971, Operation Meghdoot, Orissa Super-Cyclone Relief, 1999 , anniversaries = , commander1 = Air Marshal Amar Preet Sin ...

on 16 December 2019 from Air Marshal Richard John Duckworth and served till 31 July 2020. He was appointed as the

of the

, where he served till his superannuation on 31 July 2021 and was succeeded by Air Marshal

Sanjeev Kapoor {{Infobox chef , name = Sanjeev Kapoor , image = Sanjeev Kapoor in 2016.jpg , image_size = , caption = Sanjeev Kapoor in 2016 , birth_date = {{Birth date and age, df=yes, 1964, 4, 10 , birth_place = Amb ...

Honours and decorations

During his career, Vipin Indira Panabhan Nayar 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 2003 for his service.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Indira Panabhan Nayar, Vipin Living people Indian Air Force air marshals Commandants of the Indian Air Force Academy Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Vayu Sena Medal Year of birth missing (living people)