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 ...

Pradeep Vasant Naik,

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 ...

, VSM served as the 22nd Chief of the Air Staff 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 took office on 31 May 2009 following the retirement of

Fali Homi Major Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major, PVSM, AVSM, SC, VM, ADC served as the 21st Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force, taking office on 1 April 2007, and becoming the first helicopter pilot in the service to be promoted to the offi ...

and was succeeded in office by

Norman Anil Kumar Browne.

Career

Naik was born on 22 July 1949 at Nagpur, Maharashtra and was commissioned into the Indian Air Force on 21 June 1969 as a

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

. He is an alumnus of

Sainik School, Satara Sainik School Satara is one of the 33 Sainik Schools of India. The medium of instruction is English. Established by Government of India on 23 June 1961 at Satara (city), Satara. It is affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education and is a ...

and

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 ...

, Khadakwasla in Maharashtra. During his 42 years of service, he has served in a variety of command staff and instructional appointments. Naik has over 3,000 hrs of flying on his log. He also took part in air actions during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 in the Eastern and Western sectors. Before taking over as Chief of Air Staff, he was the Vice Chief of Air Staff of the Indian Air Force. Naik has also served as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

-based,

Central Air Command Central Air Command may refer to: * Central Air Command (India), one of five operational commands of the Indian Air Force * Central Air Command (Pakistan), one of five operational commands of the Pakistan Air Force *Central Air Command (Sweden), on ...

. Besides being a fellow of the National Defence College, New Delhi, Naik is a Qualified Flying Instructor and a Fighter Combat Leader. He has served as Directing staff at DSSC Wellington, India and at Tactics & Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE).

Advisor

Currently, he is a member of the Board of Advisors of India's International Movement to Unite Nations (I.I.M.U.N.).

Personal life

Naik and his wife Madhubala have two sons; the elder son,

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 ...

Vivek Naik was a fighter pilot (Mig 29) with the Indian Air Force and later transferred to the transport stream, and the younger son, Vineet is a Chief Officer in the Merchant Navy.

Awards

References

External links

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Naik, Pradeep Vasant 1949 births Living people Chiefs of Air Staff (India) Vice chiefs of Air Staff (India) Marathi people Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal Sainik School alumni Indian Air Force officers National Defence College, India alumni