Browne will be next IAF chief
Indian Air Force vice-chief Air Marshal N.A.K. Browne will be the next chief of the IAF, the government announced on Friday. He will take over as the Chief of Air Staff on July 31, 2011 when the current chief Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik retires. Air Marshal Browne’s tenure as the IAF chief will be up to December 31, 2013, IAF officers said.
“Born in Allahabad on December 15, 1951, Air Marshal Browne was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on June 24, 1972. With about 3,100 hours of flying to his credit, he has had a varied operational experience that included flying Hunters, all variants of MiG-21s, Jaguars and Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft,” the ministry of defence (MoD) stated. “An alumnus of National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, Pune, he is a fighter combat leader...” the MoD added.
“He (Air Marshal Browne) was also responsible for establishing the Indian Defence Wing in Tel Aviv, Israel, in April 1997 where he served as the defence attache till July 2000. From March, 2007 to May 31, 2009 he functioned as the deputy chief of the air staff (DCAS) at air headquarters and was responsible for lAF’s major modernisation programmes. Before taking over as the vice-chief of the air staff (VCAS) at the air headquarters on January 1, 2011, he was the AOC-in-C of Western Air Command, lAF’s most vital operational command,” the MoD stated.
The IAF said that “under his command and personal supervision, the first ever landing of an AN-32 (fixed wing aircraft) took place at Nyoma, advance Landing Ground (ALG), located at an altitude of 13,300 feet (near the Sino-Indian Line of Actual Control) in September, 2009. Air Marshal Browne has also been the recipient of the Param Vishist Seva Medal, Ati Vishist Seva Medal and the Vayu Sena Medal.
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