Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air 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 i ...

Om Prakash Mehra, PVSM (19 January 1919 – 8 November 2015) was a former air officer 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 Chief of the Air Staff from 1973 to 1976. He received Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM), the highest military award for peace-time service, in 1968. He was awarded Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honour, in 1977. He later became

Governor of Maharashtra The governor of Maharashtra is the ceremonial head of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The Constitution of India confers the executive powers of the state to the governor; however, the de facto executive powers lie with the Council of Minister ...

from 1980 to 1982, and Governor of Rajasthan from 1985 to 1987. He married Satya Mehra and has four children with her Sunil, Parveen, Rahul, and Amitava and numerous grand children.

Early life

Mehra was born on 19 January 1918 at

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. His basic education was at the Sacred Heart Convent. He finished school at the Central Model School in 1933 and joined

Government College University, Lahore The Government College University (colloquially known as GCU; Punjabi, Urdu: ) is a public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded as Government College, Lahore, in 1864 under British administration, it became a university i ...

and completed a master's degree in history from the

Punjab University Punjab University may refer to: India * Punjab Agricultural University, a state agricultural university in Ludhiana, Punjab * I. K. Gujral Punjab Technical University, a state university in Kapurthala, Punjab * Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Techn ...

in 1940.

Career

After a short spell of flying at the Northern India Flying Club,

, he was selected for the Indian Air Force and joined the services as a Pilot Officer on 30 November 1940. On completion of his training, he was posted to No.1 Squadron in August 1941. In March 1946 Mehra was selected to serve as 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 ...

representative at the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Australia, an organization set up to provide administrative and logistics support to the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces located in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. In view of the nationalization of the armed forces, he was recalled and posted in February 1947 as the Chief Ground Instructor at the No.1 Advanced Flying School

Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab (India), Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala ...

, to replace the RAF officer who was returning home.

Post-Independence

In August 1947, he was promoted to the rank of Wing Commander and posted as Commandant of the Elementary Flying Training School at

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 ...

. On promotion to the rank of

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 ...

in August 1963, he took over as

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 ...

Maintenance Command, in which capacity he served during the 1965 War. On 26 January 1968, he was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, and promoted to Air Marshal in March 1968. Soon thereafter he was posted as Deputy Chief of Air Staff, Air Headquarters. In early 1971, he was deputed as Chairman of

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is an Indian public sector aerospace and defence company, headquartered in Bengaluru. Established on 23 December 1940, HAL is one of the oldest and largest aerospace and defence manufacturers in the world. H ...

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 ...

. On 15 January 1973, he returned to Air Headquarters, designated as the new Chief of Air Staff, succeeding Air Chief Marshal PC Lal. He credited his success to Sathya Sai Baba and became his avowed devotee. (http://www.vedamu.org/features/FMrOPMehra.aspx) Mehra relinquished the post to Air Chief Marshal Hrushikesh Moolgavkar on 31 January 1976, on completion of his tenure.

Post-Air force career

After his retirement, he represented India at a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

meeting in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

as deputy leader of India's team. He was the recipient of Padma Vibhushan in January 1977. He went on to serve as the governor of Maharashtra from 3 November 1980 to 5 March 1982. This was followed by his posting as Governor of Rajasthan from 6 March 1982 to 4 November 1985. Air Chief Marshal Mehra was elected president of the

Indian Olympic Association The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) or Indian Olympic Committee (IOC) (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bhāratīya Olaṃpika Saṃgha'') is responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Olympic Games, Asian Games and other international spor ...

in 1975, and was responsible for the hosting by India of the

1982 Asian Games The 9th Asian Games (), also known as Delhi 1982 (), were held from 19 November to 4 December 1982, in Delhi, India. 74 Asian and Asian Games records were broken at the event. This was also the first Asiad to be held under the aegis of the Olymp ...

. From 1978 to 1980 he was President of the Asian Games Federation, currently known as the

Olympic Council of Asia The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a sports governing body, governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees. Talal Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah was elected as President of the OCA on 8 July 2023. However, on 3 ...

, and continued to be the Honorary Life President of the

. He was an honorary life member of the Durand Football Tournament Society, which organizes the Durand Cup. In January, 2010, his autobiography, ''Memories: Sweet and Sour'', was released by M. Hamid Ansari, Vice President of India in New Delhi. He was chairman, Board of Advisors of Centre for Air Power Studies. In 2012, he was living in Delhi, and was the oldest living student of

Panjab University, Chandigarh Panjab University (PU) is an Indian collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh. Funded through both State and Union governments, it is considered a state university. It traces its origins to the University of the Punjab in Laho ...

. He died on 8 November 2015 at the age of 96.

Works

* ''Memories Sweet And Sour'' by Air Chief Marshal OP Mehra. KW Publisher, 2010. .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mehra, Om Prakash Chiefs of Air Staff (India) 1919 births 2015 deaths Military personnel from Lahore Military personnel from Punjab, India Government College University, Lahore alumni University of the Punjab alumni Governors of Maharashtra Governors of Rajasthan Indian Air Force air marshals Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in civil service Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal Indian sports executives and administrators Deputy chiefs of Air Staff (India) People from Punjab Province (British India)