Arjan Singh

Arjan Singh
MIAF Arjan Singh in his Marshal of the Indian Air Force uniform
12th Lieutenant Governor of Delhi
In office
Dec 1989 – Dec 1990
Appointed byPresident of India (then, R. Venkataraman)
Preceded byRomesh Bhandari
Succeeded byMarkandey Singh
11th High Commissioner of India to Kenya
In office
1974–1977
PresidentV. V. Giri
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
B. D. Jatti
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi
Morarji Desai
Preceded byK. C. Nair
Succeeded byA. N. D. Haksar
9th Ambassador of India to Switzerland, the Holy See and Liechtenstein
In office
27 March 1971 – 26 March 1974
PresidentV. V. Giri
Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi
Preceded byM. A. Hussain
Succeeded byAvtar Singh
12th Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee
In office
7 June 1966 – 15 July 1969
PresidentSir S. Radhakrishnan
Zakir Husain
V. V. Giri
Prime MinisterGulzarilal Nanda (acting)
Indira Gandhi
Preceded byJayanto Nath Chaudhuri
Succeeded byAdhar Kumar Chatterji
3rd Chief of the Air Staff (India)
In office
1 August 1964 – 15 July 1969
PresidentSir S. Radhakrishnan
Zakir Husain
V. V. Giri
Prime MinisterLal Bahadur Shastri
Gulzarilal Nanda (acting)
Indira Gandhi
Preceded byAspy Merwan Engineer
Succeeded byPratap Chandra Lal
Personal details
Born(1919-04-15)15 April 1919
Lyallpur, Punjab, British India
(now Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan)
Died16 September 2017(2017-09-16) (aged 98)
New Delhi, India
Spouse
Teji Singh
(m. 1948; died 2011)
Children3
Military service
Allegiance British India (1938–1947)
 India (from 1947)
Branch/service Royal Indian Air Force (1938–1947)
 Indian Air Force (1947–1969, 2002–2017)[a]
Years of service1938–1969
2002–2017[b]
Rank
Marshal of the Indian Air Force
CommandsChief of the Air Staff
Operational Command
Ambala Air Force Station
Air Force Station Kohat
Air Force Station Risalpur
No. 1 Squadron IAF
Battles/warsWorld War II
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
Awards
Later work(s)Chairman, IIT Delhi
Director, Grindlays Bank
National Commission for Minorities

Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, DFC (15 April 1919 – 16 September 2017) was a senior air officer of the Indian Air Force. He served as the 3rd Chief of the Air Staff from 1964 to 1969, leading the Air Force through the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. He was the first and only officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to be promoted to five-star rank as Marshal of the Indian Air Force, equal to the army rank of Field Marshal.

Singh attended the Royal Air Force College Cranwell at the age of 19 and graduated in 1939. He joined the No. 1 Squadron IAF and served in the North-West Frontier Province. In World War II, he commanded this squadron during the Arakan Campaign and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1945, he attended the RAF Staff College, Bracknell. After the Partition of India in 1947, he led the first fly-past of Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) aircraft over the Red Fort in Delhi. He then commanded Air Force Station, Ambala at the rank of Group Captain. In 1950, after completing the staff course at Joint Service Defence College, Latimer, Buckinghamshire, he was promoted to the rank of Air Commodore and took over the Operational Command. He commanded the Operational Command in two stints. In 1958, the post was upgraded to Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at the rank of Air Vice Marshal.

After attending the Imperial Defence College in 1960, he served as the Air Officer in charge of Administration at Air Headquarters. In 1963, he took over as the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff and then as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff. Singh assumed office as the Chief of the Air Staff, on 1 August 1964. For his distinguished service in commanding the IAF during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan and in 1966 became the first IAF officer to be promoted to Air Chief Marshal.

After retiring from the IAF, Singh served as a diplomat, politician and advisor to the Government of India. He served as India's Ambassador to Switzerland, the Holy See and Liechtenstein from 1971 to 1974 and as the High Commissioner of India to Kenya from 1974 to 1977. He then served as the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi from 1989 to 1990. In January 2002, the rank of Marshal of the Indian Air Force was conferred on Singh, the first and only officer of the IAF to receive the honour.
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