Air Marshal Tejinder Singh on Sunday took over as Deputy Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force, the Defence Ministry said. After taking charge at the Air Headquarters (Vayu Bhawan), the Air Marshal paid homage to the bravehearts, who made the supreme sacrifice, by laying wreath at the National War Memorial here.

An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Air Marshal Singh was commissioned in the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on June 13, 1987.

He is a Category 'A' Qualified Flying Instructor with over 4,500 hours of flying and an alumnus of the Defence Service Staff College and National Defence College, the ministry said in a statement.

He has commanded a fighter squadron, a radar station, a premier fighter base and was the Air Officer Commanding, Jammu and Kashmir.

"His varied staff appointments include Operational Staff at a Command HQ, Air Commodore (Personnel Officers-1) at Air HQ, Deputy Assistant Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, Financial (Planning) at HQ IDS, Air Commodore (Aerospace Safety), Assistant Chief of Air Staff Operations (Offensive) and ACAS Ops (Strategy) at Air HQ," the statement said.

Prior to his present appointment, he was the Senior Air Staff Officer, HQ Eastern Air Command of the IAF at Shillong, Meghalaya.

In recognition of his meritorious services, he was awarded the Vayu Sena Medal in 2007 and the Ati Vishist Seva Medal in 2022 by the President of India, it said.

(With Inputs From Agencies)