Air Marshal Kodandera Cariappa 'Nanda' Cariappa is a former

Air Officer An air officer is an air force officer of the rank of air commodore or higher. Such officers may be termed "officers of air rank". While the term originated in the Royal Air Force, air officers are also to be found in many Commonwealth of Natio ...

in 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 Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C),

South Western Air Command The South Western Air Command (SWAC) is one of the five operational commands of the Indian Air Force, headquartered in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, Gandhinagar. It was raised in Jodhpur in July 1980 from the No.1 Operations Group of the Western Air Com ...

. He is the son of

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

K. M. Cariappa, who was the first commander-in-chief of the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

post-independence.

Military career

Air Marshal Cariappa graduated from the

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 ...

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the

on 29 May 1957. As a young pilot, he qualified as a flying instructor. He did 1000 hours of operational flying before undergoing the Flying Instructors' course in 1963. He stood first in merit in flying at Flying Instructors' School. At the flying training school where he was posted during 1963-65, he flew over 1000 hours and proved himself as an outstanding instructor. He was a squadron leader with No. 20 Squadron during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965. He was shot down while carrying out air attacks during the war and was taken prisoner.

President Ayub Khan Mohammad Ayub Khan (14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974) was a Pakistani military dictator who served as the second president of Pakistan from 1958 until his resignation on 1969. He was the first native Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army, comm ...

, a former colleague of General Cariappa before the 1947 Partition, offered to release his son. But the general's terse reply was "The POWs are all my sons, look after them well." After repatriation K C Cariappa went on to helicopters for a short while, commanding No.111 Helicopter Unit at

Hasimara Hasimara is a town in Alipurduar district of West Bengal state, India near the border with Bhutan, in the eastern Sivalik Hills. It is located at 26° 45' N latitude and 89° 21' E longitude at an altitude of 109 metres above sea level and has a ...

during the 1971 War. He would later command No.8 Squadron in the mid 1970s at

. He was

Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

of the

from June 1994 to January 1996. He wrote a biography on his father, Field Marshal K. M. Cariappa in 2007. He presently lives in his deceased father's house Roshanara in

Madikeri Madikeri (), earlier called as Mercara is city and headquarters of Kodagu district in the Karnataka state of India. It is recognised as one of the world's eight "hottest hotspots" of biological diversity and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site ...

. He takes an active part in forest and wildlife conservation measures.

Bibliography

* ''Field Marshal KM Cariappa'', a biography

References

1938 births Living people Indian Air Force air marshals Indian military aviators Indian prisoners of war Pilots of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Indian military personnel of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Kodava people People from Kodagu district Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Vayu Sena Medal Shot-down aviators Prisoners of war held by Pakistan National Defence Academy (India) alumni Defence Services Staff College alumni Academic staff of the Defence Services Staff College Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies College of Defence Management alumni Academic staff of the College of Air Warfare {{India-mil-bio-stub