Air Marshal Browne to be next Air Force chief

New Delhi, May 20 (ANI): The Vice Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal NAK Browne, will be the next Chief of Air Staff on the retirement of Air Chief Marshal PV Naik on July 31.

Commissioned into the fighter stream of Indian Air Force on June 24, 1972, Air Marshal Browne has about 3100 hours of flying to his credit. He has had a varied operational experience that included flying Hunters, all variants of MiG-21s, Jaguars and SU-30s.

An alumnus of National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, Pune, he has been a Fighterombat Leader, who has also served as an instructor at the Tactics and Air Combatevelopment Establishment (TACDE) - a premiere flying establishment of the IAF andhe Tri-services Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington.

Air Marshal Browne, who was born in Allahabad on December 15, 1951, is a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College, Alabama, USA. He trained with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the United Kingdom, on Jaguar aircraft and went on to command a Jaguar Squadron subsequently.

During his long and distinguished career spanning 38 years, he has held variousperational and staff appointments that include - Joint Director at Air War Strategy Cellt Air Headquarters, Chief Operations Officer and Air Officer Commanding of a SU-30ase, Air-I at New Delhi based Western Air Command (WAC) and Assistant Chief of their Staff (Intelligence) at Air Headquarters.

He was also responsible for establishing the Indian Defence Wing in Tel Aviv,srael in April 1997, where he served as defence attache till July 2000.

From March 2007 to May 31, 2009, Air Marshal Browne functioned as Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (DCAS) at Air Headquarters and was responsible for lAF's major Modernization Programmes.

Before taking over as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS) at Air Headquartersn January 1, 2011, he was Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Air Command, the most vital operational command of the Indian Air Force

Under the command and personal supervision of Air Marshal Browne, the first everanding of an AN-32 (fixed wing aircraft) took place at Nyoma, Advance Landing Ground (ALG), located at an altitude of 13,300 feet on September 18, 2009.

Air Marshal Browne is recipient of Param Vishist Seva Medal (PVSM), Ati Vishisteva Medal (AVSM), Vayu Sena Medal (VM) and was appointed as one of the HonoraryDCs to the President of India. (ANI)