Vice Chief of the Air Staff (Pakistan)

Vice Chief of the Air Staff
وائس چیف آف ایئر سٹاف
 Pakistan Air Force
TypeSecond-in-command of Pakistan Air Force
AbbreviationC.O.S. (1949-1964; 1970-1972)
DCAS (1964-1970; 1972-1979)
VCAS (1979-present)
Reports toCommander-in-Chief (1947-1972)
Chief of the Air Staff (since 1972)
SeatAir Headquarters, Islamabad
DeputyDeputy Chief of the Air Staff

The Vice Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS) is the second-in-command of the Pakistan Air Force and reports to the Chief of the Air Staff.[1][2] Since 1979, it has been held by an Air Marshal, a three-star rank air force officer,[3] who is responsible for flight safety, intelligence, procurement, public relations, and the PAF Air War College.[2]

History

Traditionally, the deputy has served as the air chief's principal assistant, overseeing the routine administration of Air Force operations. While there are limitations on the authority of the Deputy with respect to the development of policies, the Deputy handles many of the substantial administrative tasks with which air chiefs are encumbered. This allows the air chief to focus on the larger and more numerous areas of responsibility.[3]

According to Rule 31-A of the Pakistan Air Force Act Rules, 1957: "Authorities empowered to order dismissal or removal of persons other than officers and warrant officers:- The (Vice Chief of Air Staff), Pakistan Air Force, may at any time dismiss or remove from the service any person subject to this Act other than an officer or warrant officer."[4]

Over the years, the title used to refer to the second-in-command of the PAF has changed from chief of staff[a] to deputy chief of air staff,[b] and since 1979 as vice chief of air staff. Similarly, the rank of the deputy also increased from air commodore to air vice-marshal, and ultimately air-marshal. Throughout the first 40 years of the PAF, 19 individuals had served as vice chiefs; however, Air Marshal Farooq Feroze Khan was the first to succeed an outgoing chief of air staff.[3]

Chiefs of Staff (1949-1964; 1970-1972)

No. Name Appointment date Left office Chief
1 Air Commodore
Douglas Lloyd Almot[5] 		April 1949 May 1951 Richard Atcherley
2 Air Commodore
GB Keily[6] 		May 1951 September 1952 Leslie William Cannon
3 Air Commodore
LE Jarman[6] 		September 1952 December 1954 Leslie William Cannon
4 Air Commodore
Haider Raza[6] 		20 December 1954 20 June 1957 Leslie William Cannon
Arthur McDonald
5 Air Commodore
Maqbool Rabb[6] 		21 June 1957 24 March 1959 Arthur McDonald
Asghar Khan
6 Air Commodore
M. A. Rahman[6] 		29 March 1959 25 November 1964 Asghar Khan
7 Air Commodore
Stephen Aratoon Yusaf[c] 		1 May 1969 28 February 1970 Abdur Rahim Khan
8 Air Commodore
Eric G. Hall[6] 		1 April 1970 3 June 1972 Abdur Rahim Khan
Zafar Chaudhry

Deputy Chief of Air Staff (1964-1970; 1972-1979)

No. Name Appointment date Left office Chief
1 Air Vice-Marshal
Mohammad Akhtar 		26 November 1964 8 April 1966 Asghar Khan
Nur Khan
2 Air Vice-Marshal
Stephen Aratoon Yusaf 		9 April 1966 18 April 1967 Nur Khan
3 Air Vice-Marshal
Abdul Qadir 		19 April 1967 13 January 1969 Nur Khan
Abdur Rahim Khan
4 Air Vice-Marshal
Khyber Khan[c] 		1 February 1969 19 March 1970 Abdur Rahim Khan
5 Air Vice-Marshal
Saeedullah Khan 		22 June 1972 29 June 1973 Zafar Chaudhry
6 Air Vice-Marshal
Chaudhary Rab Nawaz 		21 July 1973 12 May 1974 Zafar Chaudhry
Zulfiqar Ali Khan
7 Air Vice-Marshal
Michael John O'Brian 		13 May 1974 31 August 1975 Zulfiqar Ali Khan
8 Air Vice-Marshal
M. Mahmood Hasan 		1 September 1975 22 July 1978 Zulfiqar Ali Khan

Vice Chief of Air Staff (1979—present)

No. Name Appointment date Left office Chief of Air Staff Ref.
1 Air Marshal
Ayaz Ahmed Khan 		10 August 1979 21 July 1981 Anwar Shamim [6]
2 Air Marshal
A Rashid Shaikh 		22 July 1981 April 1984 Anwar Shamim [6]
3 Air Marshal
Jamal A. Khan 		April 1984 March 1985 Anwar Shamim [6]
4 Air Marshal
Shabbir Hussain Syed 		March 1985 March 1988 Jamal A. Khan [6]
5 Air Marshal
Farooq Feroze Khan 		March 1988 December 1989 Hakimullah Khan Durrani [7]
6 Air Marshal
Syed Masood Hatif 		February 1990 July 1993 Hakimullah Khan Durrani
Farooq Feroze Khan 		[7]
7 Air Marshal
Shafique Haider 		July 1993 November 1994 Farooq Feroze Khan [8]
8 Air Marshal
Muhammad Arshad Chaudhry 		December 1994 January 1997 Abbas Khattak [7]
9 Air Marshal
Pervaiz Mehdi Qureshi 		May 1997 November 1997 Abbas Khattak [8]
10 Air Marshal
Aliuddin 		December 1997 November 1999 Pervaiz Mehdi Qureshi [8]
11 Air Marshal
Salim Arshad 		? 22 November 2002 Mushaf Ali Mir [9]
12 Air Marshal
Syed Qaiser Hussain 		23 November 2002 ? Mushaf Ali Mir [9][10]
13 Air Marshal
Raashid Kalim 		30 March 2006 15 November 2007 Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed [11]
14 Air Marshal
Shahid Lateef 		16 November 2007 28 March 2009 Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed [12]
15 Air Marshal
Hifazat Ullah Khan 		29 March 2009 4 October 2010 Rao Qamar Suleman
16 Air Marshal
Tahir Rafique Butt 		5 October 2010 18 March 2012 Rao Qamar Suleman [13]
17 Air Marshal
Farhat Hussain Khan 		9 June 2012 3 July 2013 Tahir Rafique Butt [14]
18 Air Marshal
Syed Athar Hussain Bukhari 		4 July 2013 6 August 2014 Tahir Rafique Butt [15]
19 Air Marshal
Sohail Gul 		7 August 2014 10 April 2015 Tahir Rafique Butt
Sohail Aman 		[16]
20 Air Marshal
Saeed Muhammad Khan 		11 April 2015 2 July 2016 Sohail Aman [17]
21 Air Marshal
Asad Abdur Rehman Lodhi 		3 July 2016 5 October 2017 Sohail Aman [18]
22 Air Marshal
Farooq Habib 		6 October 2017 25 March 2018 Sohail Aman
Mujahid Anwar Khan 		[19]
23 Air Marshal
Arshad Malik 		26 March 2018 3 November 2018 Mujahid Anwar Khan [20]
24 Air Marshal
Aasim Zaheer 		4 November 2018 17 January 2020 Mujahid Anwar Khan [21]
25 Air Marshal
Ahmer Shehzad Leghari 		18 January 2020 25 March 2021 Mujahid Anwar Khan
Zaheer Ahmad Babar 		[22]
26 Air Marshal
Syed Noman Ali 		26 March 2021 20 March 2022 Zaheer Ahmad Babar [23]
27 Air Marshal
Zahid Mehmood 		21 March 2022 2024 Zaheer Ahmad Babar [24]
28 Air Marshal
Hamid Rashid Randhawa 		2024 Zaheer Ahmad Babar [25]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ From 1948 to 1964, and in 1969.[3]
  2. ^ From 1964 to 1979.
  3. ^ a b Air Vice Marshal Yusaf served concurrently as Chief of Staff from 1969 to 1970 alongside Deputy Chief of Air Staff Khyber Khan.[6]

References

  1. ^ "PAF Structure – Principal Staff Officers". Pakistan Air Force. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b Khan, H. "Command & Structure". PakDef Military Consortium. Archived from the original on 21 August 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d The Story Of The Pakistan Air Force: A Saga Of Courage And Honour. Shaheen Foundation. 1988. p. 660. The deputy has traditionally been the chief's right hand man in the day to day supervision of air force activity. While understandably restricted in his powers of policy making, the deputy relieves the chief of some onerous chores, enabling the latter to apply himself with greater effectiveness to the more important of his multifarious responsibilities. In addition, the deputy officiates as the chief of the PAF whenever the incumbent is away from Pakistan or on leave. Over the years, the designation of the right hand man has ranged from chief of staff to deputy chief of staff to deputy chief of air staff to the present vice chief of air staff. At the same time, commen-surate with the elevation of the air chief himself, the deputy's rank has risen from air commodore through air vice marshal to air marshal. It is of interest to note that, of the 19 deputies spanning the PAF's four decades, only one succeeded an outgoing air chief.
  4. ^ "Pakistan Air Force Rules, 1957, (Rr. 31-A, 31-B & 3) 2020 PLD 137 PESHAWAR-HIGH-COURT (Writ Petition No. 2593-P of 2017, decided on 1st November, 2018*.)". www.pakistanlawyer.com. 2018.
  5. ^ "AMLOT TO OFFICIATE FOR ATCHERLEY New RPAF Commander's Impressive Record". The Civil and Military Gazette of Lahore. 11 November 1949.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k The Story Of The Pakistan Air Force: A Saga Of Courage And Honour. Shaheen Foundation. 1988. p. 661-669.
  7. ^ a b c History of the Pakistan Air Force, 1947-1982, Pakistan Air Force, 1982 (p. 222)
  8. ^ a b c Shaikh, A. Rashid (2000). The Story of Pakistan Air Force: A Battle Against Odds, 1988–1998. Shaheen Foundation. p. 370.
  9. ^ a b "ISLAMABAD: New CAA chief named". Dawn. 10 November 2002.
  10. ^ "Qaiser acting Air Chief". Dawn. 21 February 2003.
  11. ^ "Raashid new vice chief of air staff". Dawn. 31 March 2006.
  12. ^ "Shahid Lateef made Vice Chief of Air Staff". Brecorder. 16 November 2007.
  13. ^ "Tahir new Vice Chief of Air Staff". Dawn. 5 October 2010.
  14. ^ "Air Marshal Farhat Hussain Khan Appointed as Vice chief of Air Staff" (PDF). Pakistan Air Force. 9 June 2012.
  15. ^ "Air Marshal Syed Athar Hussain Bukhari appointed Vice Chief of the Air Staff" (PDF). Pakistan Air Force. 4 July 2013.
  16. ^ "Sohail Gul appointed Vice Chief of Air Staff". Dawn. 8 August 2014.
  17. ^ "Saeed appointed Vice Chief of Air Staff". The Nation. 11 April 2015.
  18. ^ "Air Marshal Asad Abdur Rehman Lodhi appointed as Vice Chief of Air Staff". The News International. 4 July 2016.
  19. ^ "Air Marshal Farooq Habib appointed Vice Chief of the Air Staff". The News International. 6 October 2017.
  20. ^ "Arshad Malik named vice chief of air staff". Dawn. 27 March 2018.
  21. ^ "Aasim Zaheer named Vice Chief of Air Staff". Dawn. 4 November 2018.
  22. ^ "Air Marshal Ahmer Shehzad Leghari appointed PAF vice chief of air staff". The Express Tribune. 17 January 2020.
  23. ^ "Government of Pakistan has appointed Air Marshal Syed Noman Ali" (PDF). 26 March 2021.
  24. ^ "Air Marshal Zahid becomes Vice Chief of Air Staff". The News International. 22 March 2022.
  25. ^ "Hamid Rashid Randhawa calls on Russian Embassy". 22 February 2024.
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