Chief of the Air Staff | |
---|---|
رئیسِ عملۂ پاک فضائیہ | |
![]() Air Force Ensign of Pakistan | |
![]() (Air Force Secretariat-II at MoD) ![]() | |
Abbreviation | CAS |
Member of | Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee |
Reports to | ![]() ![]() |
Residence | Air Headquarters, Islamabad |
Seat | Air Headquarters |
Nominator | ![]() |
Appointer | ![]() |
Term length | 3 years renewable only once |
Precursor | Commander-in-Chief |
Formation | March 3, 1972 |
First holder | Air Marshal Zafar Chaudhry |
Succession | On basis of seniority, subjected to the decision of the Prime Minister of Pakistan. |
Unofficial names | Air chief |
Deputy | Vice Chief of Air Staff (VCAS) |
Salary | According to Pakistan Military officer's Pay Grade (apex Scale) |
Website | Official website |
The Chief of Air Staff (Urdu: سربراہ پاک فضائيہ) (reporting name: CAS) is a military appointment and a statutory office held by an Air Chief Marshal in the Pakistan Air Force, who is appointed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan and final confirmation by the President of Pakistan.[2] The CAS is the highest-ranking officer of the Pakistan Air Force and only pilots are appointed in this post.
The Chief of the Air Staff is a senior most military appointment in the Pakistani military who is a senior member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee in a separate capacity, usually providing necessary consultation to the Chairman joint chiefs to act as a principal military adviser to the Prime Minister and its civilian government in the line of defending and guarding the nation's airspace and aerial borders.: 40 [3][4]
The Chief of Air Staff exercise its responsibility of command and control of the operational, administration, combatant, logistics, and training commands within the Air Force.: 140 [3] Due to its statute, the Chief of Air Staff maintain its importance of providing the strategic control and final decision-making issues relating the nation's national security.[4]
The appointment, in principle, is constitutionally subjected for three years but extensions may be granted by the President upon recommendations and approvals from the Prime Minister. The Chief of Air Staff is based at the Air Headquarters, and the current Chief of Air Staff is Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar.[2]
History
The Pakistan Air Force was created from the partition of the Royal Indian Air Force after the partition of India in 1947, and were commanded by the appointments approved by the British Air Council. The position was then-known as the Commander in Chief who would directly report to the Governor-General who was also under British monarchs.: 238 [5] At first, the office was held by the two-star rank air officer, an Air Vice Marshal, and later upgraded to a three-star rank, Air Marshal. The British Air Council continued making the appointment at the command level until 1957, when Pakistan had promoted a local air officer to the commanding position.: 238 [5]
On 20 March 1972, the title of the office was changed from "Commander in Chief" to the "Chief of Air Staff" with Air Marshal Zafar Chaudhry being appointed as the first person to hold the latter title.: contents [6] The Air Force had its first four-star rank officer, an Air Chief Marshal, in 1974.: contents [7] The term of the superannuation was then constrained to three years in the office as opposed to four years and air chief was made a permanent member of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.: contents [6][4] Since 1974, there has been 14 four-star rank air force officers who have commanded the air force as its air chief.: contents [6]
The Chief of Air Staff is nominated and appointed by the Prime Minister whose appointment is then confirmed by the President.[2] The air force leadership is based in the AHQ in Islamabad, at the vicinity of the Navy Headquarters.[4]
The Chief of Air Staff leads the functions of the AHQ, assisted by the civilians from the Air Force Secretariat-II of the Ministry of Defence (MoD).[1] The Chief of Air Staff exercise its responsibility of complete operational, training and logistics commands.[4] In addition, the Air chief has several staff officers:-
- Vice Chief of Air Staff
- Deputy Chief of Air Staff Aerial Support (DCAS(S))
- Deputy Chief of Air Staff Training and Evaluation (DCAS (T&E))
- Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Operations (DCAS AO)
- Deputy Chief of Air Staff Personnel (DCAS P)
- Deputy Chief of Air Staff Engineering (DCAS (E))
- Director-General C4ISTAR (DG C4ISTAR)
- Commander Air Force Strategic Command
Appointees
The following tables chronicle the appointees to the office of the Chief of the Air Staff or its preceding positions since the independence of Pakistan.[8]
(**Seconded from the Royal Air Force)
Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Pakistan Air Force (1947-55)
The Royal Indian Air Force was divided between India and Pakistan following the partition of India, hence the Royal Pakistan Air Force was formed in 1947. It was then headed by a Commander-in-Chief.
No. | Portrait | Commander-in-Chief | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Allan Perry-Keene CB, OBE (1898–1987) | Air Vice Marshal15 August 1947 | 17 February 1949 | 1 year, 186 days | |
2 | Richard Atcherley CB, CBE, AFC (1904–1970) | Air Vice Marshal18 February 1949 | 6 May 1951 | 2 years, 77 days | |
3 | Leslie William Cannon CB, CBE (1904–1986) | Air Vice Marshal7 May 1951 | 19 June 1955 | 4 years, 43 days | |
4 | Arthur McDonald CB, AFC (1903–1996) | Air Vice Marshal20 June 1955 | 23 March 1956 | 277 days |
Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force (1956-72)
Pakistan became an Islamic republic in 23 March 1956, hence royal was dropped from the name of the air force.
No. | Portrait | Commander-in-Chief | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
4 | Arthur McDonald CB, AFC (1903–1996) | Air Vice Marshal23 March 1956 | 22 July 1957 | 1 year, 121 days | |
5 | Asghar Khan HPk, HQA (1921–2018) | Air Marshal23 July 1957 | 22 July 1965 | 8 years, 0 days | |
6 | Nur Khan SPk, HJ, HQA (1923–2011) | Air Marshal23 July 1965 | 31 August 1969 | 4 years, 40 days | |
7 | Abdur Rahim Khan SPk, HJ, SBt (1925–1990) | Air Marshal1 September 1969 | 2 March 1972 | 2 years, 183 days |
Chiefs of Air Staff of Pakistan Air Force (1972-present)
Rank insignia of the whole PAF was changed when ACM Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed was in the office.
No. | Portrait | Chief of Air Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Zafar Chaudhry SQA (1926–2019) | Air Marshal3 March 1972 | 15 April 1974 | 2 years, 43 days | |
2 | Zulfiqar Ali Khan NI(M) (1930–2005) | Air Chief Marshal16 April 1974 | 22 July 1978 | 4 years, 97 days | |
3 | Anwar Shamim NI(M), SJ (1931–2013) | Air Chief Marshal23 July 1978 | 5 March 1985 | 6 years, 226 days | |
4 | Jamal Khan NI(M), SJ, SBt (born 1934) | Air Chief Marshal5 March 1985 | 8 March 1988 | 3 years, 3 days | |
5 | Hakeemullah Khan Durrani NI(M), SJ, SBt (born 1935) | Air Chief Marshal9 March 1988 | 9 March 1991 | 3 years, 0 days | |
6 | Farooq Feroze Khan NI(M), SBt (1939–2021) | Air Chief Marshal9 March 1991 | 8 November 1994 | 3 years, 244 days | |
7 | Abbas Khattak NI(M), SBt (born 1943) | Air Chief Marshal8 November 1994 | 7 November 1997 | 2 years, 364 days | |
8 | Pervaiz Mehdi Qureshi NI(M), SBt (born 1943) | Air Chief Marshal7 November 1997 | 20 November 2000 | 3 years, 13 days | |
9 | Mushaf Ali Mir NI(M), SBt (1947–2003) | Air Chief Marshal20 November 2000 | 20 February 2003 † | 2 years, 92 days | |
10 | Kaleem Saadat NI(M) (born 1951) | Air Chief Marshal18 March 2003 | 18 March 2006 | 3 years, 0 days | |
11 | Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed NI(M), SBt (born 1952) | Air Chief Marshal18 March 2006 | 18 March 2009 | 3 years, 0 days | |
12 | Rao Qamar Suleman NI(M), HI(M), SI(M), TI(M), SBt (born 1954) | Air Chief Marshal19 March 2009 | 19 March 2012 | 3 years, 0 days | |
13 | Tahir Rafique Butt NI(M), TBt (born 1955) | Air Chief Marshal19 March 2012 | 19 March 2015 | 3 years, 0 days | |
14 | Sohail Aman NI(M), HI(M), SI(M), TI(M) (born 1959) | Air Chief Marshal19 March 2015 | 19 March 2018 | 3 years, 0 days | |
15 | Mujahid Anwar Khan NI(M), HI(M), SI(M), TI(M) (born 1962) | Air Chief Marshal19 March 2018 | 19 March 2021 | 3 years, 0 days | |
16 | Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu NI(M), HI(M), SI(M), TI(M) | Air Chief Marshal19 March 2021 | Incumbent | 1 year, 63 days |
See also
- List of serving air marshals of the Pakistan Air Force
- Pakistan Air Force ranks
- Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (Pakistan)
- Chief of Army Staff (Pakistan)
- Chief of Naval Staff (Pakistan)
- Chief of General Staff (Pakistan)
- RAF India (for commanders prior to 1947)
References
- ^ a b MoD, Ministry of Defence. "Organogram of MoD" (PDF). mod.gov.pk/. Ministry of Defence Press. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
- ^ a b c Mateen Haider; Irfan Haider (18 March 2015). "Air Marshal Sohail Aman appointed as new air chief". DAWN.COM. Dawn Newspaper, Islamabad. Dawn Newspapers. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
- ^ a b Cheema, Pervaiz Iqbal (2002). "Defence Administration". The Armed Forces of Pakistan (google books) (1st ed.). New York, U.S.: NYU Press. p. 225. ISBN 9780814716335. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
- ^ a b c d e Usman, Shabbir (2003). "Command & Structure control". pakdef.org. PakDef Military Consortium. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
- ^ a b Cheema, Pervaiz I.; Riemer, Manuel (1990). Pakistan's Defence Policy 1947-58. Springer. ISBN 9781349209422. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
- ^ a b c Alam, Dr Shah (2012). "Modernization under Bhutto" (googlebooks). Pakistan Army: Modernisation, Arms Procurement and Capacity Building. Vij Books India Pvt Ltd. ISBN 9789381411797. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
- ^ Ramsey, Syed (2017). "Recovery from 1971 war" (google books). Pakistan and Islamic Militancy in South Asia. Vij Books India Pvt Ltd. ISBN 9789386367433. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
- ^ "Chiefs of Air Staff". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2014.