Shah Mohammad Ziaur Rahman, ndc, afwc, psc (born 11 January 1955) is a former air officer who is the first operational three star rank officer and chief of air staff at

Bangladesh Air Force The Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) () is the aerial warfare branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The air force is primarily responsible for air defence of Bangladesh's sovereign territory as well as providing air support to the Bangladesh Army a ...

Early life and education

Rahman, was born in 11 January 1955 in to a Muslim family in Gopalgonj. He joined the Bangladesh Air Force as a flight cadet on March 10, 1975 and was commissioned on December 29, 1976 as General Duties (Pilot) officer. Rahman obtained his command course from the Defence Service and Staff College in 1991 and air staff course from the Pakistan Air Force War College in 1992. He also graduated from National Defence College, Pakistan in 2001. Rahman later participated in the seminars for “Executive Course” at

Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies The Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS) is a U.S. Department of Defense institute that officially opened Sept. 4, 1995, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Center addresses regional and global security issues, inviting mili ...

in “Military and Peace Keeping Operations in Accordance with Rule of Law" course in 2003 and 2006 respectively.

Military career

Rahman has flown

MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames in ...

and

Chengdu J-7 The Chengdu J-7 (wikt:歼, Chinese: 歼-7; third generation export version F-7; NATO reporting name: Fishcan) is a People's Republic of China, Chinese fighter aircraft. It is a licensed production, license-built version of the Soviet Mikoyan-Gur ...

and oversaw

Fouga CM.170 Magister The Fouga CM.170 Magister is a 1950s French two-seat jet trainer aircraft that was developed and manufactured by French aircraft manufacturer ''Établissements Fouga & Cie''. Easily recognizable by its V-tail, almost 1,000 have been built in Fr ...

course in Bangladesh Air Force Academy. As wing commander, Rahman commanded two squadrons and one radar station. He was promoted to group captain in 1995 while commanding BAF Station Shamshernagar. Rahman also commanded three airbases and promoted to air commodore on 2000. He was designated as assistant chief of air staff (operations & training) at Air Headquarters on 12 September 2005.

As Chief of Air Staff

Rahman was promoted from air commodore to air vice-marshal and appointed as the Chief of Air Staff on 8 April 2007. He was soon ameliorated to Air Marshal on 24 May of the same year. As Chief of Staff he emphasized for the operation of aircraft, and a modernization of the ageing Bangladesh air fleet. He is notable for initiating a modern Personnel Evaluation System in air force that resulted in revolutionary improvements in the aircraft flight output, research and development sectors. The participation of air force in United Nations peacekeeping missions had increased manifold during Rahman's tenure of office as quantities of air personnel has received many accolades from world leaders and United Nations. He retired on 12 June 2012 and was succeeded by Air Marshal Enamul Bari.

Personal life

Zia is married and has one son and one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zia 1955 births Bangladesh Air Force air marshals Living people Chiefs of Air Staff (Bangladesh) People from Gopalganj District, Bangladesh

Early life and education

Military career

As Chief of Air Staff

Personal life

See also

References