36-479: Air chief marshal ( Air Chf Mshl or ACM ) is a high-ranking air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force . The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence . This rank is also equivalent to an Admiral in a navy or a full general in an army or other nations' air forces. The rank of air chief marshal is immediately senior to
72-596: A composite flight consisting of a Y-12 transport aircraft and Z-9 light utility helicopters to the SADC air forces exercise Blue Kavango held in Botswana. The Air Force Commander exercise overall Executive command, he is deputized by an Air Commodore . The Air Force Sergeant Major is the principal Warrant Officer that advises the Air Force Commander on matters of discipline. The primary training institute in
108-552: Is an air force officer of the rank of air commodore or higher. Such officers may be termed "officers of air rank". While the term originated in the Royal Air Force , air officers are also to be found in many Commonwealth nations who have a similar rank structure to the RAF. Air officers holding command appointments receive the title Air Officer Commanding (AOC), whereas air officers holding commander-in-chief positions are titled as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C). In
144-485: Is an air officer, their Royal Navy equivalent ( commodore ) is not considered a flag officer, nor is the British Army or Royal Marines equivalent ( brigadier ) considered a general officer. In 1919 when the RAF introduced its own air officer ranks, the preceding RAF and equivalent army rank was brigadier-general , which was a general officer rank until its abolition in 1922. In some other countries — most notably
180-461: Is appointed to the position of Chief of Defence Forces (formerly Supreme Commander), then he has always held the rank of air chief marshal. The last air chief marshal to be appointed Supreme Commander was Air Chief Marshal Voranat Aphichari who retired in 1994. In November 2007 it became known that Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn (now king of Thailand) had granted the title of Air Chief Marshal to his pet poodle Fufu . The dog died in 2015. Prior to
216-547: Is normally a three-star air marshal. In March 1976, as part of a Pakistani Defence Ministry reorganization, the post of Chief of Air Staff , the head of the Pakistan Air Force, was upgraded from air marshal to air chief marshal rank. To date all Pakistani air chief marshals have been members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee . However, only Air Chief Marshal Farooq Feroze Khan has served as Chairman of
252-431: Is worn on the lower sleeves of the service dress jacket or on the shoulders of the flying suit or working uniform. The command flag for an RAF air chief marshal is defined by the two broad red bands running through the centre of the flag. The vehicle star plate for an RAF air chief marshal depicts four white stars (air chief marshal is a four-star rank) on an air force blue background. Air officer An air officer
288-655: The British Armed Forces , where the term originated, an air officer is equivalent in concept to flag officer and general officer in the Royal Navy and Army respectively. Specifically, while the Army uses General Officer Commanding (GOC), the Air Force uses Air Officer Commanding (AOC) to designate the senior officer in a formation. Note, however, that in the British Armed Forces , while an air commodore
324-531: The Chief of Defence Staff holds an active four-star rank . Retiring Commanders of the Sri Lanka Air Force are promoted to the rank of air chief marshal as an outgoing honour. Air Chief Marshal Donald Perera was the first CDS appointed from the Air Force and Air Chief Marshal Roshan Goonetileke became the first serving Air Force Commander to be appointed to the rank of air chief marshal as part of
360-879: The Air Base at Keetmanshoop is planned. Air Defence Wing Fighter squadron, operating Chengdu F-7s . 15 Wing Operates the helicopters. This squadron participated in the Second Congo War . In 2013, it lost two helicopters in a mid-air collision . 13 Wing Hosting the fixed-wing transport aircraft (An-26 and Y-12). The Namibian Air Force has deployed numerous times to help civilian authorities during disasters. Health outreach workers have been ferried during immunisation campaigns. It has assisted in transporting electoral material and personnel during national elections. It has also flown foreign heads of state during their stay in Namibia. Between 1998 and 2002
396-774: The Army and the Navy. The five separate roles for the Air Force are: surveillance, transport of personnel and transport of supplies/equipment, support to the civil authorities or civil community, and training. The policy for the Air Force is as follows: To acquire dedicated air assets to undertake the surveillance and transport tasks. The MOD and NDF will train and employ their own pilots and technicians. Co-operation and co-ordination with other Ministries may extend to making such assets available for non-defence tasking. In addition, consideration will be given to arrangements whereby private and other national air assets could be employed where appropriate or necessary. After commissioning in 1994,
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#1732779607642432-571: The CAS was upgraded from Air Marshal to Air Chief Marshal in 1966. The first IAF officer to hold this rank was Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh (later promoted to the five-star rank of marshal of the Indian Air Force ) who was promoted to the rank in 1966 while he served as the CAS. Post 1966, all the Indian air chiefs have held the rank. As of 2014, 19 Indian chiefs of the air staff have held
468-479: The Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee , the supreme commandant of Pakistan Armed Forces. Originally, a Pakistani air chief marshal's rank insignia was essentially the same as the RAF insignia. In 2006 the Pakistan Air Force changed the rank insignia for its officers , abandoning the ring insignia in favor of a Turkish Air Force-style featuring four stars and a crossed swords and laurel device. In Sri Lanka, only
504-469: The RAF on 1 January 1927, no officer held the rank until Sir John Salmond was promoted on 1 January 1929. It has been used continuously ever since. In the RAF, the rank of air chief marshal is held by the serving Chief of the Air Staff (currently Sir Richard Knighton ). Additionally, RAF officers appointed to four-star tri-service posts hold the rank of air chief marshal. Throughout the history of
540-465: The RAF's highest rank. Additionally, Lord Stirrup was granted an honorary promotion to marshal of the Royal Air Force in 2014. The marshals are still to be found on the RAF's active list even though they have for all practical purposes retired. The rank insignia consists of three narrow light blue bands (each on a slightly wider black band) over a light blue band on a broad black band. This
576-543: The RAF, 141 RAF officers have held the rank and it has also been awarded in an honorary capacity to senior members of the British Royal Family and allied foreign monarchs. Although no serving RAF officer has been promoted to marshal of the Royal Air Force since the British defence cuts of the 1990s, British air chief marshals are not the most senior officers in the RAF as several officers continue to retain
612-500: The adoption of RAF-specific rank titles in 1919, it was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navy 's officer ranks, with the word "air" inserted before the naval rank title. For example, the rank that later became air chief marshal would have been air admiral. The Admiralty objected to any use of their rank titles, including this modified form, and so an alternative proposal was put forward: air-officer ranks would be based on
648-601: The air force . Only the Chief of the Defence Staff holds four-star rank . The first Nigerian Air Force officer to attain the rank of air chief marshal was Paul Dike upon his appointment as the Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff in 2008. Dike was succeeded as Chief of the Defence Staff in 2010 by Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin . In 2014, Alex Sabundu Badeh was appointed Chief of Defence Staff and promoted to air chief marshal. The Nigerian Chief of Air Staff
684-586: The air force was deployed to the DRC during the Second Congo War . Harbin Y-12 transport aircraft where used on logistics supply missions to the DRC as well as withdrawing Namibian troops at the end of the war. On 1 August 1999 an air force flight engineer died after he was hit by anti-aircraft fire on a Harbin Y-12 that was en route to resupply Namibian and Zimbabwean troops besieged at Ikela . Two Namibian Alouette helicopters collided in mid-air while on operations during
720-540: The air wing was composed of two squadrons, VR-1 squadron and the Helicopter Squadron. The first aircraft of the force were six Cessna O-2As donated by the United States. The US also offered two advisors to train four pilots, six copilots and seven mechanics. In December 1994 a total of four Cheetah and Chetak light utility helicopters bought from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited were delivered to
756-579: The armed forces of the United States — Army, Air Force and Marine Corps one-star officers are considered to be general officers, and one-star officers of the Navy and Coast Guard are considered to be flag officers. There are multiple air officer command appointments. Additionally the RAF maintains two home country air officer appointments. These are Air Officer Scotland and the Air Officer for Wales. On ceremonial occasions, many RAF air officers are entitled to wear embellished shoulder boards and
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#1732779607642792-652: The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II , the St Edward's Crown representing royal authority. Prior to 1953, the Tudor Crown (sometimes called the King's Crown) was used. The air officer ranks are as follows: The air officer terminology is currently used by the following air forces: Namibian Air Force The Namibian Air Force is the aerial warfare branch of the Namibian Defence Force . It
828-633: The establishment of the Australian Air Board on 9 November 1920, Australian Air Corps officers dropped their army ranks in favour of those based on the Royal Air Force. However, it was not until 1965 when Sir Frederick Scherger became Chairman of the Australian Chiefs of Staff Committee, and was promoted to air chief marshal that an RAAF officer attained the rank. Throughout the history of the RAAF, only four of its officers have held
864-465: The gold and blue sash. This applies to all officers at or above the rank of air vice-marshal and holders of the following air commodore posts: With the exception of marshals of the RAF, the embellished shoulder boards feature the golden air officers' eagle and wreath device surmounted by a lion statant guardant . For marshals of the RAF, the embellished shoulder boards display the air officer's eagle and wreath, two crossed marshal 's batons and, since
900-500: The latter year. The Namibian Air Force has suffered a number of aircraft incidents and accidents. The first notable accident occurred during Operation Atlantic in the DRC, where two helicopters — a Cheetah and a Chetak (serials H-702 and H-708) — collided mid-air during bad weather, resulting in the deaths of 11 personnel, five of whom were Namibian. List of bases of the Namibian Air Force Expansion of
936-599: The rank has been held by Abu Esrar , Masihuzzaman Serniabat , Shaikh Abdul Hannan , and Hasan Mahmood Khan . Throughout the 20th century history of the Royal Canadian Air Force , only two officers held the rank of air chief marshal. They were: Lloyd Samuel Breadner (promoted 1945) and Frank Robert Miller (promoted 1961). The rank existed on paper until the 1968 unification of the Canadian Forces , when Army-type rank titles were adopted and
972-550: The rank of air marshal but subordinate to marshal of the air force . Air chief marshals are sometimes generically considered to be air marshals. In the Royal Australian Air Force , this rank is only used when the Chief of the Defence Force is an Air Force officer. When this is not the case, the senior ranking Air Force officer is the Chief of Air Force , holding the rank of air marshal . With
1008-555: The rank of air chief marshal was replaced by that of full general . As no serving officers held the rank in 1968, no Canadian air chief marshals were regraded to general and Miller, the then only living retired air chief marshal, retained his rank. When Miller died in 1997 the Canadian rank of air chief marshal effectively passed into history. The 21st century re-creation of the Royal Canadian Air Force has not seen
1044-473: The rank revived and as of 2014 there are no plans for such a change. Army-style rank titles continue to be used although a return to the former insignia has been enacted. In official Canadian French usage, the rank title was maréchal en chef de l'air . In the Indian Air Force , the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) (currently ACM Amar Preet Singh ) holds the rank of Air Chief Marshal. The position of
1080-596: The rank. Apart from Scherger, they are Sir Neville McNamara (promoted 1982), Sir Angus Houston (promoted 2005) and Mark Binskin (promoted 2014). McNamara, Houston and Binskin are former Australian Defence Force chiefs; as of November 2024, Admiral David Johnston is the current chief of the Australian Defence Force. In 2016 the Bangladeshi Chief of Air Staff position was upgraded from air marshal to air chief marshal rank. Since then
1116-553: The rank. In the Indian Air Force the honorary promotion of Arjan Singh to marshal of the Indian Air Force in 2002 resulted in Indian air chief marshals no longer being the most senior IAF officers until Singh's death in 2017. In the Namibian Air Force , the rank is known as Chief air marshal. The Nigerian air chief marshal is the second highest-ranking officer in the Nigerian Air Force , below Marshal of
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1152-526: The term "ardian", which was derived from a combination of the Gaelic words for "chief" ( ard ) and "bird" ( eun ), with the unmodified word "ardian" being used specifically for the equivalent to full admiral and general. However, air chief marshal was preferred and was adopted in August 1919. The rank was first used on 1 April 1922 with the promotion of Sir Hugh Trenchard . With Trenchard's promotion to marshal of
1188-651: The then Air Wing at Eros Airport . The Indian Air Force also provided a chief engineer, five technicians and two pilots to train Namibian crews for at least six months. Two Harbin Y-12s were delivered in December 1997. In the 1999-2000 period, two Mil Mi-8s and two Mil Mi-25s were delivered by Libya. In 2004, Namibia ordered 12 Chengdu F-7 NM fighters and two FT-7NM trainers from China. These were delivered in 2005 and 2006, and officially entered service on 23 June of
1224-740: The victory celebrations. The officer appointed to command the Royal Thai Air Force has been promoted to the rank of air chief marshal ( Thai : พลอากาศเอก , romanized : Phon Akat Ek ) since c. 1950 . The present commander is Air Chief Marshal Alongkorn Wannarot who is supported by the Deputy Commander-in-Chief (currently Air Chief Marshal Chanon Mungthanya) and the Assistant Commander-in-Chief (currently Air Chief Marshal Punpakdee Pattanakul). If an air force officer
1260-566: The war due to bad weather on 15 January 1999. The accident claimed nine lives, including two Namibian pilots and three technicians. During the 2014 floods at Tokwe-Murkosi in Masvingo , Zimbabwe , the air force deployed a flight consisting of one Harbin Z-9 and two Alouettes to assist with the evacuation of the affected people. The mission lasted seven days in which 600 residents were airlifted, as well as 56 tons of goods. The air force deployed
1296-542: Was commissioned on 13 March 2005 at Grootfontein Air Force Base . Following the independence of Namibia from South Africa in 1990, the Air Defence Wing of the Namibian Defence Force was established on 23 July 1994. The Air Force headquarters is located at Karibib Air Force Base . The policy, mission statements and concept of operations envisage the development of an Air Force to operate in support of
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