Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh took over as the new Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force today succeeding incumbent Air Marshal Sandeep Singh, who demitted the office on superannuation after 39 years of illustrious service.
Air Marshal Sandeep Singh was accorded a ceremonial Guard of Honour at Air Headquarters (Vayu Bhavan). He also laid a wreath at the National War Memorial to honour the armed forces personnel who have made the supreme sacrifice for the nation.
An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Defence Services Staff College and National Defence College, the Air Marshal was commissioned into the Fighter Stream of the IAF on December 21, 1984. The Air Officer is a Qualified Flying Instructor and an Experimental Test Pilot with more than 5000 hours of flying experience on a variety of fixed and rotary wing aircraft.
During his career, the officer has commanded an operational fighter squadron and a frontline air base. As a test pilot, he led the MiG-29 Upgrade Project Management Team at Moscow, Russia. He was also the Project Director (Flight Test) at National Flight Test Centre looking after the flight testing of the Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas). He has held important staff appointments of Air Defence Commander at South Western Air Command and Senior Air Staff Officer at Eastern Air Command. Prior to assuming his current appointment, he was the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Central Air Command.
The Air Marshal is a recipient of Param VishishtSeva Medal and AtiVishishtSeva Medal.