Air Marshal B Chandra Sekhar,

PVSM Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of India. It is the highest peacetime medal of the Indian Armed Forces, and is awarded for "dist ...

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 ...

is a retired officer of the

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 ...

. He served as the commandant 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 8 March 2022 succeeding Air Marshal

Sreekumar Prabhakaran Air Marshal Sreekumar Prabhakaran, AVSM, VM is a retired officer of the Indian Air Force. He served as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Air Command. He assumed the office on 1 March 2022 and superannuated on 31 December 2022. Prev ...

. Previously, he served as the Senior Air Staff Officer - Training Command.

Early life and education

B Chandra Sekhar is a native of

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

. He is an alumnus of

Defence Services Staff College The Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) is a defence service training institution of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. It trains officers of all three services of the Indian Armed Forces – (Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air ...

, Wellington,

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces. Here, cadets of the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force train together before they go on to their respective service a ...

, Khadagwasla,

Flying Instructors School The Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school in the world. The sch ...

College of Defence Management The College of Defence Management (CDM) is an Indian defence service training institution imparting management training to defence servants. CDM is entrusted with the responsibility of instilling contemporary management thoughts, concepts a ...

and National Defence College,

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

Career

B Chandra Sekhar was commissioned in the flying branch of the Indian Air Force on 21 December 1984. He has over 5400 hours of incident free flying on various aircraft. B Chandra Sekhar is a qualified flying instructor and has the accolade of the landing a medium-lift helicopter in

Siachen Glacier The Siachen Glacier is a glacier located in the eastern Karakoram range of the Himalayas, just northeast of the point NJ9842 where the Line of Control between India and Pakistan ends in northeastern Kashmir. At long, it is the longest glaci ...

. With a long career of 38 years. He has served as appointments such as Ops IIB in the Eastern Sector, Principal Director (Administration) in Strategic Forces Command. He was instrumental in induction of

Chinook Chinook may refer to: Chinook peoples The name derives from a settlement of Indigenous people in Oregon and Washington State. * Chinookan peoples, several groups of Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest ** Chinook Indian Nation, an organiza ...

helicopters and

Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", or "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range ...

jet in the Eastern Air Command of the

. As an

Air Vice Marshal Air vice-marshal (Air Vce Mshl or AVM) 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 Commonwealth of Nations, countries which have historical British infl ...

, he served as the Senior Officer-in-charge Administration for both Southern Air Command and Eastern Air Command. He served as the Senior Air Staff Officer - Training Command till 7 March 2022. He superannuated on 31 August 2023 and was succeeded by Air Marshal Seethepalli Shrinivas.

Honours and decorations

During his career, B Chandra Sekhar has been awarded the

Param Vishisht Seva Medal Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of India. It is the highest peacetime medal of the Indian Armed Forces, and is awarded for "dist ...

in 2024 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2020.

Personal life

B Chandra Shekhar is married to Mrs B Komala, who is an experienced banker. They are blessed with a daughter and a son who are both commissioned officers in the Indian Air Force.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandra Sekhar, B Indian Air Force air marshals Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Commandants of the Air Force Academy (India) College of Defence Management alumni National Defence Academy (India) alumni National Defence College, India alumni Defence Services Staff College alumni