The Chief of Air Staff ( ur, ) (

reporting name NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform mann ...

: CAS) is a military appointment and a statutory office held by an

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 Admi ...

in the

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

, who is appointed by the

Prime Minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan ( ur, , romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen cabinet, despite the president of Pakis ...

and final confirmation by the President of Pakistan. 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 The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consist of three formally uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are ...

who is a senior member of the

Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee The Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC), ( ur, ); is an administrative body of senior high-ranking uniformed military leaders of the unified Pakistan Armed Forces who advises the civilian Government of Pakistan, National Security Council, Def ...

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 Civil authority or civil government is the practical implementation of a state on behalf of its citizens, other than through military units (martial law), that enforces law and order and that is distinguished from religious authority (for exampl ...

in the line of defending and guarding the nation's airspace and aerial borders. The Chief of Air Staff exercise its responsibility of

command and control Command and control (abbr. C2) is a "set of organizational and technical attributes and processes ... hatemploys human, physical, and information resources to solve problems and accomplish missions" to achieve the goals of an organization or en ...

of the operational, administration, combatant, logistics, and training commands within the Air Force. Due to its statute, the Chief of Air Staff maintain its importance of providing the

strategic control Strategic control is the process used by organizations to control the formation and execution of strategic plans; it is a specialised form of management control, and differs from other forms of management control (in particular from operational con ...

and final decision-making issues relating the nation's national security. 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 Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu ( ur, ) is a four-star air force general and the current 16th Chief of Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force. He belongs to Sidh, Gujrat. On 19 March 2021, Babar took over command of the Pakistan Air ...

History

The

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

was created from the partition of the

Royal Indian Air Force The Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) was the aerial force of British India and later the Dominion of India. Along with the Indian Army, and Royal Indian Navy, it was one of the Armed Forces of British Indian Empire. The Indian Air Force was offi ...

after the partition of India in 1947, and were commanded by the appointments approved by the British

Air Council Air Council (or Air Force Council) was the governing body of the Royal Air Force until the merger of the Air Ministry with the other armed forces ministries to form the Ministry of Defence in 1964. It was succeeded by the Air Force Board. ...

. The position was then-known as the Commander in Chief who would directly report to the Governor-General who was also under British monarchs. At first, the office was held by the two-star rank air officer, an

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 ...

, and later upgraded to a three-star rank, Air Marshal. The British

continued making the appointment at the command level until 1957, when Pakistan had promoted a local air officer to the commanding position. 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. The Air Force had its first four-star rank officer, an

, in 1974. The term of the

superannuation A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

was then constrained to three years in the office as opposed to four years and air chief was made a permanent member of

. Since 1974, there has been 14 four-star rank air force officers who have commanded the air force as its air chief. The Chief of Air Staff is nominated and appointed by the Prime Minister whose appointment is then confirmed by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

. The air force leadership is based in the AHQ in Islamabad, at the vicinity of the Navy Headquarters. 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). The Chief of Air Staff exercise its responsibility of complete operational, training and logistics commands. 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 Command and control (abbr. C2) is a "set of organizational and technical attributes and processes ... hatemploys human, physical, and information resources to solve problems and accomplish missions" to achieve the goals of an organization or en ...

(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. (**''Seconded from the Royal Air Force'')

Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Pakistan Air Force (1947-55)

The

was divided between India and Pakistan following the

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

, hence the

Royal Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

was formed in 1947. It was then headed by a Commander-in-Chief.

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.

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.

References

External links

Official Website – Pakistan Air Force Chiefs of Air Staff GalleryPAF s' Chief of the Air Staffs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chief Off Air Staff (Pakistan) Chiefs of Air Staff, Pakistan Pakistan Air Force air marshals Pakistan Air force appointments Pakistani military appointments