Air Commodore Air commodore (Air Cdre or Air Cmde) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from 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 ...

Jasjit Singh, AVSM, VrC, VM (8 July 1934 – 4 August 2013) was an

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

officer, writer and military strategist. In his military career, he was awarded the Vir Chakra during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. He last served as the director of operations of the IAF. He later headed the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses from 1987 to 2001 as its director. In 2001, he founded the think tank Centre for Air Power Studies in New Delhi and served as its director general till his death in 2013.

Military career

Singh was born on 8 July 1934. He was commissioned into the

on 1 April 1956. Selected into the fighter stream of the IAF, he trained as a

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

. In the early years of his career, he served as a Flight Commander in an operational Squadron in the Eastern Sector in 1961-62. He later served as a flying instructor at the Flying Instructors School at Tambaram Air Force Station. He attended the Defence Services Staff College,

Wellington Wellington 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

in 1968.

Vir Chakra

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Singh was a part of No. 3 Squadron IAF. He was awarded the Vir Chakra for gallantry. The citation for the Vir Chakra reads as follows:

Post-war career

On 20 January 1975, Singh was appointed

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of No. 17 Squadron IAF. After over two years in command of the squadron, he was promoted to the rank of Group Captain and moved to Air headquarters as the Director (Flight Safety). He subsequently served as the Director (Offensive Operations), and as Director (Air Induction), both at Air HQ.

Post-retirement

Singh founded the Air Force

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

, Centre for Air Power Studies, and also remained longest continuously serving director of Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) from 1987 to 2001. In 2006, he was awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

by Government of India.

Bibliography

Singh authored multiple books during his time heading the think tanks Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses and the Centre for Air Power Studies. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Jasjit 1934 births 2013 deaths Indian Air Force air commodores Indian military personnel of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Military strategists Military theorists Indian military writers Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in other fields Recipients of the Vir Chakra