Air Marshal Sujeet Pushpakar Dharkar,

PVSM Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (IAST: ) is a military award of India. It was constituted in 1960 and since then it is awarded in recognition to peace-time service of the most exceptional order and may be awarded posthumously. All ranks of the ...

, AVSM is an officer in the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

. He is currently serving as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command. He assumed the office on 1 October 2022. Previously, he served as the Senior Air Staff Officer of

South Western Air Command Victory embraces the brave , colors= , colors_label= , battles= Atlantique incident, Bhuj earthquake relief, 2001, Gujarat flood relief, 2005 , anniversaries= , commander1= Air Marshal Vikram Singh, VSM , commander1_label= Air Officer Co ...

, Gandhinagar.

Early life and education

Sujeet Pushpakar Dharkar is a graduate of Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and an alumnus of the prestigious National Defence Academy, Khadagwasla. He is an alumnus of Rashtriya Indian Military College,

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

and USAF Air War College, Montgomery. He has instructional experience in conducting Professional Military Education for medium and senior level officers at the Defence Services Staff College and at the College of Air Warfare, Secunderabad.

Career

Sujeet Pushpakar Dharkar was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force on 14 June 1985. He has flying experience of over 3,600 hours on a variety of fighter aircraft. Air Marshal SP Dharkar is a Qualified Flying Instructor, Fighter Strike Leader and Instrument Rating Instructor & Examiner and has also been an Air Force Examiner. During his illustrious career, he has commanded a front line fighter squadron and a Fighter Flying Training Establishment and has also instructional experience in conducting Professional Military Education at the DSSC and at the College of Air Warfare, Secunderabad. He has significant experience in ground attack / strike roles, predominantly on the MiG-23 and MiG-27 aircraft. As an

Air Vice Marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by 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 u ...

, he served as the first Director General of the

Defence Space Agency The Defence Space Agency (DSA) is a tri-service agency of the Indian Armed Forces. Headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The agency is tasked with operating the space-warfare and Satellite Intelligence assets of India. The DSA draws pe ...

. As an Air Marshal, he served as the Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) of

from 1 November 2021 till 30 September 2022. He assumed the charge of Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command on 1 October 2022 succeeding Air Marshal

Dilip Kumar Patnaik Air Marshal Dilip Kumar Patnaik, AVSM, VM is a retired officer in the Indian Air Force. He served as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), Eastern Air Command. He took over the office on 3 October 2021, succeeding of Air Marshal Am ...

Honours and decorations

During his career, Sujeet Pushpakar Dharkar has been awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2014 and Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dharkar, Sujeet Pushpakar Indian Air Force air marshals Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Defence Services Staff College alumni Academic staff of the Defence Services Staff College