Air Marshal Suraj Kumar Jha,

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 ...

is a retired 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 ...

who last served as the Air Officer-in-Charge Personnel. He assumed the office on 1 August 2021 succeeding Air Marshal

Richard John Duckworth Air Marshal Richard John Duckworth, AVSM, VSM is a retired officer of the Indian Air Force. He served as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), Central Air Command. He assumed the office on 1 July 2021 succeeding Air Marshal Amit Tiwar ...

. Previously, he served as Deputy Chief of the Air Staff at Air Headquarters Vayu Bhawan in

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 ...

succeeding Air Marshal

Sandeep Singh Sandeep Singh (born 27 February 1986) is an Indian professional field hockey player from Haryana and an ex-captain of the Indian national hockey team. He generally features as a full back and is a penalty corner specialist for the team. He ...

Early life and education

Suraj Kumar Jha was born in Madhubani, Bihar, on 15 August 1963. He joined

Sainik School The Sainik Schools () are a system of Military high schools in India established and managed by the Sainik Schools Society () under Ministry of Defence (MoD). They were conceived in 1961 by V. K. Krishna Menon, the then Defence Minister of Indi ...

Tilaiya and from there he joined 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 ...

. There he was the all India UPSC topper in 1980. Suraj Kumar Jha is an alumnus of

Defence Services Staff College The Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) is a defence service training institution of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. It trains officers of all three services of the Indian Armed Forces – (Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air ...

Career

Suraj Kumar Jha was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force on 8 June 1984. In a distinguish career spanning 37 years, he has flown a variety of fighter and trainer aircraft with more than 2900 hours of operational flying. With a career of 37 years in the IAF, he was the commanding officer of a front line fighter aircraft squadron and a fighter base. As an

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 Air Officer Commanding Advance Headquarters, was the Commandant of

College of Air Warfare College of Air Warfare (CAW) is a defence service training institution of the Indian Air Force. The college conducts courses and programmes in the art of Joint Warfare, with special emphasis on employment of Air Power. The functional and the ad ...

, Assistant Chief of Integrated Defence Staff. He is an alumnus of the

Air Force Academy An air force academy or air academy is a national institution that provides initial officer training, possibly including undergraduate level education, to air force officer cadets who are preparing to be commissioned officers in a national air forc ...

and the

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

Honours and decorations

During his career, Suraj Kumar Jha was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2023, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2021 and was Mention-in-Despatches by Chief of the Air Staff in 1999 for his actions in

Kargil War The Kargil War, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Ladakh, then part of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Control (LoC). In In ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jha, Suraj Kumar Indian Air Force air marshals Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Commandants of College of Air Warfare Defence Services Staff College alumni Deputy chiefs of Air Staff (India)