Chief of the Air Staff (Pakistan)

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Chief of the Air Staff
رئیسِ عملۂ پاک فضائیہ
Air Force Ensign of Pakistan.svg
Air Force Ensign of Pakistan
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ZAHEER AHMED BABER SIDHU.jpg
since 19 March 2021
State emblem of Pakistan.svg Ministry of Defence
(Air Force Secretariat-II at MoD)
Air Force Ensign of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan Air Force [1]
AbbreviationCAS
Member of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee
National Security Council
Reports to Flag of the Prime Minister of Pakistan.svg Prime Minister of Pakistan
State emblem of Pakistan.svg Minister of Defence
Seat Air Headquarters
Nominator Flag of the Prime Minister of Pakistan.svg Prime Minister of Pakistan
Appointer Flag of the President of Pakistan.svg President of Pakistan
Term length 5 years
Renewable
Precursor Commander-in-Chief
Formation3 March 1972;53 years ago (1972-03-03)
First holder Air Marshal Zafar Chaudhry
Unofficial namesAir chief
Deputy Vice Chief of the Air Staff
SalaryAccording to Pakistan Military officer's Pay Grade (apex Scale)
Website Official Website

The Chief of the Air Staff [a] (reporting name: CAS) is a military appointment and a statutory office held by an Air Chief Marshal in the Pakistan Air Force, who is appointed by the prime minister of Pakistan with final confirmation by the president of Pakistan. The CAS is the highest-ranking officer of the Pakistan Air Force.

Contents

The Chief of the Air Staff is a senior most military appointment in the Pakistani military who is a senior member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee in a separate capacity, usually providing necessary consultation to the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee to act as a principal military adviser to the prime minister and its civilian government in the line of defending and guarding the nation's airspace and aerial borders. [2] :40 [3]

The Chief of the Air Staff exercises his responsibility of command and control of the operational, administration, combatant, logistics, and training commands within the Air Force. [2] :140 [3]

The appointment, in principle, was constitutionally subjected for three years. However, in March 2024, the incumbent chief was controversially given a one year extension in his tenure. [4] In November 2024, the term length was increased to five years. [5] The Chief of the Air Staff is based at the Air Headquarters, and the current chief is Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar.

History

The Royal Pakistan Air Force was established in August 1947, following the Partition of British India. The Air Officer Commanding was a two-star rank officer appointed by the British Air Council and reported directly to the governor-general of Pakistan, who represented the British monarch. [6] :238 On 30 March 1950, this position was re-designated as the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Pakistan Air Force. [7] After the 1956 Constitution of Pakistan was enacted, the country became a republic and the "Royal" title was dropped from all military branches. The British Air Council continued appointing chiefs until 1957, when the Government of Pakistan appointed Air Vice Marshal Asghar Khan, who became the first native head of the Pakistan Air Force. [8]

On 20 March 1972, the title of the office was changed from "Commander-in-Chief" to the "Chief of Air Staff" with Air Marshal Zafar Chaudhry being appointed as the first person to hold the latter title. [9] The Air Force had its first four-star rank officer, Air Chief Marshal Zulfiqar Ali Khan, in 1974. [10] The term of the superannuation was then constrained to three years in the office as opposed to four years and air chief was made a permanent member of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. [9] [3] Since 1974, there have been 14 four-star rank air force officers who have commanded the air force as its air chief. [9]

The Chief of the Air Staff is nominated and appointed by the prime minister whose appointment is then confirmed by the president. The air force leadership is based in the AHQ (PAF) in Islamabad, at the vicinity of the Naval Headquarters. [3]

The Chief of the Air Staff leads the functions of the AHQ, assisted by the civilians from the Air Force Secretariat-II of the Ministry of Defence (MoD). [1] The Chief of the Air Staff exercise its responsibility of complete operational, training and logistics commands. [3] In addition, the air chief has several staff officers:- [11]

Appointees

The following tables chronicle the appointees to the office of the Chief of the Air Staff or its preceding positions since the independence of Pakistan. [12]

(**Seconded from the Royal Air Force )

Air Officer Commanding of the Royal Pakistan Air Force (1947–50)

No.PortraitAir Officer CommandingTook officeLeft officeTime in office
1
AVM A L A Perry Keene.png
Perry-Keene, Allan Air Vice Marshal
Allan Perry-Keene
CB OBE

(1898–1987)
15 August 194717 February 19491 year, 186 days
2
No image.png
Atcherley, Richard Air Vice Marshal
Richard Atcherley
CB CBE AFC

(1904–1970)
18 February 194930 March 19501 year, 40 days

Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Pakistan Air Force (1950-56)

No.PortraitCommander-in-ChiefTook officeLeft officeTime in office
1
No image.png
Atcherley, Richard Air Vice Marshal
Richard Atcherley
CB CBE AFC

(1904–1970)
31 March 19506 May 19511 year, 36 days
2
Air Vice-Marshal Leslie William Cannon.png
Cannon, Leslie Air Vice Marshal
Leslie William Cannon
CB CBE

(1904–1986)
7 May 195119 June 19554 years, 43 days
3
No image.png
McDonald, Arthur Air Vice Marshal
Arthur McDonald
CB AFC

(1903–1996)
20 June 195523 March 1956277 days

Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force (1956–72)

Pakistan became an Islamic republic on 23 March 1956, hence royal was dropped from the name of the air force.

No.PortraitCommander-in-ChiefTook officeLeft officeTime in office
1
No image.png
McDonald, Arthur Air Vice Marshal
Arthur McDonald
CB AFC

(1903–1996)
23 March 195622 July 19571 year, 121 days
2
Air Marshal Asghar in Thailand (c. 1960).jpg
Khan, Asghar Air Marshal
Asghar Khan
HPk HQA

(1921–2018)
23 July 195723 July 19658 years, 0 days
3
Noor khan.jpg
Khan, Nur Air Marshal
Nur Khan
HJ SPk HQA

(1923–2011)
23 July 196531 August 19694 years, 40 days
4
Air Marshal Abdur Rahim Khan.jpg
Khan, Abdur Air Marshal
Abdur Rahim Khan
HJ HQA SPk SK SBt KSJ

(1925–1990)
1 September 19692 March 19722 years, 183 days

Chiefs of Air Staff of Pakistan Air Force (1972–present)

Rank insignia of the whole PAF was changed when ACM Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed was in the office.

No.PortraitChief of Air StaffTook officeLeft officeTime in office
1
Air Marshal Zafar Chaudhry.jpg
Chaudhry, Zafar Air Marshal
Zafar Chaudhry
SQA

(1926–2019)
3 March 197215 April 19742 years, 43 days
2
ACM.Zulfiqar Ali Khan.jpg
Khan, Zulfiqar Air Chief Marshal
Zulfiqar Ali Khan
NI(M)

(1930–2005)
16 April 197422 July 19784 years, 97 days
3
Air Chief Marshal Anwar Shamim.jpg
Shamim, Anwar Air Chief Marshal
Anwar Shamim
NI(M) SJ

(1931–2013)
23 July 19785 March 19856 years, 226 days
4
No image.png
Khan, Jamal Air Chief Marshal
Jamal A. Khan
NI(M) SJ SBt

(born 1934)
5 March 19858 March 19883 years, 3 days
5
No image.png
Durrani, Hakimullah Air Chief Marshal
Hakimullah Khan Durrani
NI(M) SJ SBt

(1935–2024)
9 March 19889 March 19913 years
6
No image.png
Khan, Farooq Air Chief Marshal
Farooq Feroze Khan NI(M) SBt
(1939–2021)
9 March 19918 November 19943 years, 244 days
7
No image.png
Khattak, Abbas Air Chief Marshal
Abbas Khattak NI(M) SBt
(born 1943)
8 November 19947 November 19972 years, 364 days
8
Parvaiz Mehdi Qureshi.jpg
Qureshi, Pervaiz Air Chief Marshal
Pervaiz Mehdi Qureshi
NI(M) SBt

(born 1943)
7 November 199720 November 20003 years, 13 days
9
Mushaf-Ali-Mir.jpg
Mir, Mushaf Air Chief Marshal
Mushaf Ali Mir
NI(M) SBt

(1947–2003)
20 November 200020 February 2003 2 years, 92 days
-
No image.png
Hussain Qaiser, Syed Air Marshal
Syed Qaiser Hussain
20 February 2003 [13] 18 March 200326 days
10
No image.png
Saadat, Kaleem Air Chief Marshal
Kaleem Saadat
NI(M)

(born 1951)
19 March 2003 [14] 18 March 20062 years, 364 days
11
No image.png
Ahmed, Tanvir Air Chief Marshal
Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed
NI(M) SBt

(born 1952)
18 March 200618 March 20093 years, 0 days
12
No image.png
Suleman, Rao Air Chief Marshal
Rao Qamar Suleman
NI(M) HI(M) SI(M) TI(M) SBt

(born 1954)
19 March 200919 March 20123 years, 0 days
13
No image.png
Butt, Tahir Air Chief Marshal
Tahir Rafique Butt
NI(M) TBt

(born 1955)
19 March 201219 March 20153 years, 0 days
14
Sohail Aman.JPG
Aman, Sohail Air Chief Marshal
Sohail Aman
NI(M) HI(M) SI(M) TI(M)

(born 1959)
19 March 201519 March 20183 years, 0 days
15
Mujahid Anwar Khan.jpg
Khan, Mujahid Air Chief Marshal
Mujahid Anwar Khan
NI(M) HI(M) SI(M) TI(M)

(born 1962)
19 March 201819 March 20213 years, 0 days
16
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ZAHEER AHMED BABER SIDHU.jpg
Babar, Zaheer Air Chief Marshal
Zaheer Ahmad Babar
NI(M) HI(M) SI(M) TI(M)

(born 1965)
19 March 2021Incumbent4 years, 156 days

See also

References

  1. 1 2 MoD, Ministry of Defence. "Organogram of MoD" (PDF). mod.gov.pk/. Ministry of Defence Press. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  2. 1 2 Cheema, Pervaiz Iqbal (2002). "Defence Administration". The Armed Forces of Pakistan (google books) (1st ed.). New York, U.S.: NYU Press. p. 225. ISBN   9780814716335 . Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Usman, Shabbir (2003). "Command & Structure control". pakdef.org. PakDef Military Consortium. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  4. Ayesha Siddiqa (26 March 2024). "Myth Of Extension".
  5. Nausheen Yusuf; Waqar Satti (4 November 2024). "Parliament approves bill extending tenure of services chiefs up to 5 years". GEO News .
  6. Cheema, Pervaiz I.; Riemer, Manuel (1990). Pakistan's Defence Policy 1947-58. Springer. ISBN   9781349209422 . Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  7. "Change of Title of Defence Chiefs". Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore. 31 March 1950.
  8. "Native air marshal". The Chronicle of Pakistan. 22 July 1957.
  9. 1 2 3 Alam, Dr Shah (2012). "Modernization under Bhutto" (googlebooks). Pakistan Army: Modernisation, Arms Procurement and Capacity Building. Vij Books India Pvt Ltd. ISBN   9789381411797 . Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  10. Ramsey, Syed (2017). "Recovery from 1971 war" (google books). Pakistan and Islamic Militancy in South Asia. Vij Books India Pvt Ltd. ISBN   9789386367433 . Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  11. "Principal Staff Officers". Pakistan Air Force . Archived from the original on 24 August 2021.
  12. "Chiefs of Air Staff". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  13. "Qaiser acting Air Chief". Dawn . 21 February 2003.
  14. "Kaleem Saadat appointed air chief". Dawn . 20 March 2003.

Notes

  1. Urdu: سربراہ پاک فضائيہ