Birender Singh Dhanoa

Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa PVSM, AVSM, YSM, VM, ADC
Official portrait, 2016
56th Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee
In office 31 May 2019 – 27 September 2019
President	Ram Nath Kovind
Preceded by	Sunil Lanba
Succeeded by	Bipin Rawat
22nd Chief of the Air Staff
In office 31 December 2016 – 30 September 2019
President	Pranab Mukherjee Ram Nath Kovind
Preceded by	Arup Raha
Succeeded by	Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria
40th Vice Chief of the Air Staff
In office 31 May 2015 – 31 December 2016
Preceded by	Ravi Kant Sharma
Succeeded by	Shirish Baban Deo
Personal details
Born	(1957-09-07) 7 September 1957 (age 67) Deoghar, Bihar, India[1]
Spouse	Kamalpreet Kaur Dhanoa
Children	1
Military service
Allegiance	India
Branch/service	Indian Air Force
Years of service	June 1978 - 30 September 2019
Rank	Air Chief Marshal
Unit	No. 17 Squadron
Commands	Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee Chief of the Air Staff South Western Air Command
Battles/wars	Kargil War Balakot Airstrike
Service number	15405[2]
Awards	Param Vishisht Seva Medal Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Yudh Seva Medal Vayu Sena Medal

Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, VM, ADC is an Indian air force officer who was the 22nd Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force and served from 31 December 2016 to 30 September 2019.^[3][4][5] Dhanoa also served as the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.^[6][7]

As of July 2021, Dhanoa is serving as a non-executive and independent director at Hero MotoCorp.^[8]

Early life and education

Birender Singh Dhanoa was born in Deoghar in the Indian state of Bihar (now Jharkhand) to Sukhdev Kaur and Sorain Singh in a Jat Sikh family.^[9][10] His ancestral village is Gharuan in the state of Punjab near Chandigarh and Mohali.^[11] His father Sorain Singh, an IAS officer, served as the Chief Secretary to the governments of Punjab and Bihar during the 1980s, and later as an advisor to the Punjab state governor, and as an Election Commissioner of India.^[12] His grandfather Capt Sant Singh had fought in World War II as a captain of the British Indian Army.^[13] He has completed a part of his schooling from St. Xavier's School, Ranchi.^[14] He is an alumnus of St. George's College, Mussoorie, where he studied from 1968 to 1969. He thereon joined Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun, and later graduated from National Defence Academy, Pune. He also attended a staff course in Defence Services Staff College, Wellington in 1992.^[15][16]

Career

Air Chief Marshal B. S. Dhanoa with Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre and Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra, Controller General of Defence Accounts Veena Prasad and Financial Adviser (Defence Services) at the 271st Annual Day celebrations of Defence Accounts Department (DAD).

Dhanoa was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force in June 1978. He has flown various types of fighter jets and is a qualified flying instructor. He has flown fighter aircraft across the spectrum including HJT-16 Kiran, MiG-21, SEPECAT Jaguar, MiG-29 and Su-30MKI. He held several key operational and administrative appointments in his 41 years of career including Director Targeting Cell at Air Headquarters, Director Fighter Operations & War Planning at Headquarters Western Air Command, Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Intelligence) at Air Headquarters, Senior Air Staff Officer of Eastern and Western Air Command and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of South Western Air Command (1 November - 31 May 2015).^[17] He has held instructional appointments of Senior Air Instructor and Chief Air Instructor at Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and leader of an Indian Air Force Training Team abroad.

Kargil Conflict

Dhanoa was Commanding Officer of a front line ground attack fighter squadron during the Kargil Conflict in 1999. Under his leadership the squadron devised innovative methods of night bombing at high altitudes which had never been attempted before. His squadron was adjudged the best fighter squadron of HQ WAC. He was awarded Yudh Seva Medal (YSM) and Vayu Sena Medal (VM) for his gallant actions in this conflict.^[3][18]

Before assuming the office of Vice Chief of the Air Staff at Air HQ from Air Marshal Ravi Kant Sharma on 1 June 2015, he was the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the South Western Air Command. Air Marshal Ravinder Kumar Dhir succeeded him as the AOC-in-C of South Western Air Command.^[19][20]

On 17 December 2016, the Government of India designated Air Marshal Dhanoa as the Chief of Staff of the Indian Air Force.^[21][3]

Bilateral visits as CAS

Country	Date	Purpose	References
2017
France	17 - 20 July	Bilateral discussions with senior military officials of the French Armed Forces and representatives of Military aviation industry Visited the headquarters of French Air Force, few operational air bases and Indian Rafale PMT Infrastructure	[22][23]
Australia	19 - 22 September	Bilateral discussions with senior military officials of the Royal Australian Air Force Visited the headquarters of Royal Australian Air Force and a few operational air bases	[24]
United States	26 - 28 September	Attend and address the Pacific Air Chiefs symposium at Hawaii	[25]
Vietnam	30 October - 3 November	Bilateral discussions with senior military officials of the Vietnam People's Air Force and Air Defence (VPAF) Visited the headquarters of Headquarters of Vietnam People's Air Force and Air Defence (VPAF) and some operational air bases	[26]
Sri Lanka	11 - 14 December	Review the commissioning, award of wings and passing out parade of the Sri Lankan Air Force Academy	[27]
2018
Israel	21 - 24 May	Attend 70th anniversary celebration of Israeli Air Force Met Chiefs and Senior Commanders of numerous Air Forces Visited a few operational air bases	[28]
Brazil	4 - 7 June	Met senior functionaries Visited operational and training units	[29]
United Kingdom	9 - 15 July	Attend RAF Annual Air Power Conference and Royal International Air Tattoo	[30]
Myanmar	3 - 8 September	Meet senior functionaries Visit operational establishments	[31]
Malaysia
2019
Thailand	26-28 August	represented India at 2019 Indo Pacific Chiefs of Defense (CHOD) Conference being held in Bangkok	[32]

Awards and medals

Dhanoa has been awarded several medals: the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (2016), the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (2015), the Yudh Seva Medal (1999), and the Vayu Sena Medal (1999). He was also appointed as Honorary ADC to the President of India on 1 August 2015.^{[19][33][34][3][2]}

Param Vishisht Seva Medal	Ati Vishisht Seva Medal	Yudh Seva Medal	Vayu Sena Medal
Operation Vijay Medal	Operation Parakram Medal	Meritorious Service Medal	Sainya Seva Medal
50th Anniversary of Independence Medal	30 Years Long Service Medal	20 Years Long Service Medal	9 Years Long Service Medal

References

1. "Air Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa was born in Jharkhand". Times of India. 18 December 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
2. "President Confers Gallantry and Distinguished Service Awards". 21 March 2015.
3. "Air Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa to be the next IAF chief". Retrieved 20 December 2016.
4. "Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa takes over as the 25th Chief of the Air Staff". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
5. @IAF_MCC (30 September 2019). "Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, laid the wreath at National War Memorial. He retires today after 41 years of glorious service to the Nation. He was commissioned in Jun 1978 as a fighter pilot & has led the IAF from front always" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
6. "Gen. Rawat takes over as Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
7. @IAF_MCC (27 September 2019). "#Congratulations to the COAS General Bipin Rawat on receiving baton of Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) from outgoing Chairman COSC & CAS, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa at an official ceremony held in New Delhi today. The CAS ACM BS Dhanoa is due to retire on 30 Sep 19" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
8. "Hero MotoCorp appoints former Air Chief BS Dhanoa as independent director". Economic Times. 1 October 2020.
9. "एयर स्ट्राइक की योजना बनाने वाले वायुसेना प्रमुख वीरेंद्र सिंह धनोआ का रिश्ता रहा है बिहार से". 27 February 2019.
10. "Air Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa was born in Jharkhand to Sukhdev Kaur and Sarayan Singh - Times of India". The Times of India. 18 December 2016.
11. "New IAF Vice-Chief does Punjab village proud". Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
12. "Former Election Commissioner". Retrieved 10 November 2019. Shri S.S. Dhanoa: 16.10.1989 to 02.01.1990
13. "New IAF Vice-Chief does Punjab village proud". Archived from the original on 5 May 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
14. "Air Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa was born in Jharkhand". The Times of India. 18 December 2016.
15. "New IAF Vice-Chief does Punjab village proud". The Tribune. Archived from the original on 5 May 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
16. "Punjab native Birender Singh Dhanoa appointed AIF Vice Chief". Punjab News Express. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
17. "Air Marshal B S Dhanoa takes over as AOC-in-C in SWAC". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 1 November 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
18. One India Defence Desk (2 June 2015). "Pilot who flew many night strike missions during Kargil War is IAF Vice Chief". One India. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
19. "Air Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa AVSM YSM VM takes over as Vice Chief of the Air Staff". PIB. GOI. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
20. "SWAC: Air Marshal R K Dhir takes over as AOC-in-C". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 1 June 2015. Archived from the original on 13 October 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
21. Parminder, Kaur. "Air Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa to Head Indian Air Force". No. online. ABC Live. ABC Live. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
22. "IAF chief Dhanoa on 4-day trip to France to boost defence ties - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
23. "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 16 July 2017.
24. "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 20 September 2017.
25. "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 27 September 2017.
26. "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 30 October 2017.
27. "Visit of Chief of the Air Staff to Sri Lanka". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
28. "CAS visit to Israel". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
29. "Visit of Chief of the Air Staff to Brazil". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
30. "IAF Chief visits UK for greater military engagement".
31. "Visit of Chief of the Air Staff to Myanmar and Malaysia". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
32. "Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa to embark on 3-day visit to Thailand beginning today". www.newsonair.com. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
33. "Air Marshal BS Dhanoa takes over as Vice Chief of Air Staff". India Strategic. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
34. Press Trust of India. "Birender Singh Dhanoa Appointed New IAF Vice Chief". Outlook India. Retrieved 24 April 2016.

Military offices
Preceded by Admiral Sunil Lanba	Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee 30 May 2019 - 27 September 2019	Succeeded by General Bipin Rawat
Preceded by Arup Raha	Chief of the Air Staff (India) 31 December 2016 - 30 September 2019	Succeeded by Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria
Preceded by Ravi Kant Sharma	Vice Chief of the Air Staff (India) 31 May 2015 - 31 December 2016	Succeeded by Shirish Baban Deo
Preceded by Daljit Singh	Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South Western Air Command 1 November 2014 - 31 May 2015	Succeeded by Ravinder Kumar Dhir