Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari,

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 ...

, VM is an 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 is currently serving as the 49th Vice Chief of the Air Staff. Previously, 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 ...

having assumed the office on 1 May 2023 succeeding Air Marshal Vikram Singh.

Early life and education

Born in Siakalpur, Siwan,

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. Tiwari an alumnus of

Rashtriya Indian Military College The Rashtriya Indian Military College (abbreviated RIMC; formerly known as Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College) () is a military school for boys situated in Doon Valley, Dehradun in India. The RIMC is a feeder institution for the Nation ...

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

and 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 ...

. Narmdeshwar Tiwari is an alumnus of 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 ...

and passed out as the President Gold Medalist.

Career

Narmdeshwar Tiwari was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force. In a career spanning over 37 years, he has as more than 3,600 hours of flying experience across various fighter jets. He is a qualified flying instructor and experimental test pilot. He has extensive weapons testing experience primarily on

Mirage 2000 The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine, delta wing, fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was designed in the late 1970s as a lightweight fighter to replace the Mirage III for the French ...

. He served as the commanding officer of No. 1 Squadron and has been instrumental in test flying

HAL Tejas The HAL Tejas () is an Indian single-engine, delta wing, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole Military aircraft, combat aircraft designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for t ...

. As

Group Captain Group captain (Gp Capt or G/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British influence. Group cap ...

, he served as the chief test pilot at Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) and was instrumental in flight testing various aircraft of the India Air Force including

. As

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 ...

, he served as the Air Attaché at the Embassy of India in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and later served as the Air Officer Commanding of 32 Wing at the

Jodhpur Jodhpur () is the second-largest city of the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, after its capital Jaipur. As of 2023, the city has a population of 1.83 million. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Jodhpur district and ...

sector in the

. As

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 Project Director at National Flight Test Center,

Aeronautical Development Agency The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), under the Department of Defence Research and Development (DR&D) of India's Ministry of Defence, was established in Bangalore in 1984 to oversee the development of the India's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA ...

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. Later, he served as the Assistance Chief of Air Staff (Projects) and Assistance Chief of Air Staff (Plans), spearheading the acquisition and plans for the Indian Air Force. After his promotion to Air Marshal in October 2021, he served as the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff till 30 April 2023. He took over as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief,

on 1 May 2023 from Air Marshal Vikram Singh. He was appointed as the 49th Vice Chief of the Air Staff, succeding Sujeet Pushpakar Dharkar on his superannuation.

Honours and decorations

During his career, Narmdeshwar Tiwari 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 2025,

Ati Vishisht Seva Medal 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 D ...

in 2022 and

Vayu Sena Medal The Vayu Sena Medal () is a military decoration, usually awarded in peacetime for a job well done in the Indian Air Force. However, it has been granted during times of conflict for acts of gallantry in the face of enemy, though not in the same n ...

in 2008 for his service.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiwari, Narmdeshwar Living people Indian Air Force air marshals Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Vayu Sena Medal Year of birth missing (living people) Deputy chiefs of Air Staff (India)