Indian Air Force -- News Folder -- September 2003

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member_201
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Indian Air Force -- News Folder -- September 2003

Post by member_201 »

Please observe the following guidelines:

PLEASE DO NOT post a news article without the proper heading and the URL.

PLEASE DO NOT post a news article without explicit mention of the source (Radio or TV channel name, time, program) along with the news.

PLEASE DO NOT post an entire article unless there is no archiving available on the news site. Should you post an entire article, give proper credit to the source, mention the date of the article, and the URL.

PLEASE DO NOT comment and/or discuss on the news articles posted in the news folder.

Thanking You in advance for your cooperation.
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Re: Indian Air Force -- News Folder -- September 2003

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Re: Indian Air Force -- News Folder -- September 2003

Post by Jagan »

Western Command Chief on way out?
[Hindustan Times, 15 Sept 2003]


There's a reported move in the Indian Air Force (IAF) to shift out Air Marshal Adi Rustom Ghandhi, the commander-in-chief of the operationally critical Western Air Command. Well-placed sources confirm 'serious thinking' to get Air Marshal Ghandhi to swap places with his counterpart in the South-Western Air Command, Air Marshal SP Tyagi. The ostensible reasoning is to groom Air Marshal Tyagi to succeed Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy as the Chief of Air Staff in December 2004.

But considering that Air Marshal Ghandhi has less than a year to go in service, shifting him out at this stage would be very unusual. The move has triggered speculation within the force on whether he's out of favour with the 'high command'. Air Marshal Ghandhi's appointment to this critical job in May 2002 itself took place in controversial circumstances. He succeeded Air Marshal V.K. Bhatia, who was eased out after he strayed across the Line of Control while piloting an AN-32 transport aircraft on its inaugural flight to Kargil.

The incident happened at a time when the Indian and Pakistan militaries were massed eyeball-to-eyeball on the border. Bhatia's aircraft was hit by a Pakistani missile. Although he managed to land safely at Leh, the military leadership's heart skipped a beat. The flamboyant but highly-decorated Bhatia's personality clash with the dour Krishnaswamy was well known within the IAF. Krishnaswamy is reported to have ignored a suggestion even by the Marshal, the highly respected Arjan Singh, to let Bhatia be, and insisted on the latter's removal. Bhatia was shunted out to a desk job, even though he had only a few months left in service.
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