Inderpal Singh Walia

The Air officer is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and the Air Force Academy, Dundigal. He is also an alumnus of the Advanced Command and Staff Course, United Kingdom and the National Defence College, Bangladesh.^[2]

He was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on 11 June 1988 from the Air Force Academy.^[4] In a career spanning over three decades, he has more than 3200 hours of flying experience across various fighter jets and has held numerous command & staff appointments. He is a highly experienced fighter pilot and an Instrument Rating Instructor & Examiner (IRIE). He has flown various fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force which include variants of the MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-27, Jaguar and Su-30 MKI. The Air Marshal's operational tenures include being the Commanding Officer of No. 222 Squadron and was the Commandant of Tactics and Combat Development Establishment (TACDE). He also served as the Defence Attaché at the Embassy of India in Japan.^[5]

As an Air Commodore, he served as the Air-1 at Eastern Air Command,^[6] as the Air Officer Commanding of 15 Wing, Bareilly^[7] and later as the Air Commodore (Air Staff Inspection) at the Air headquarters, New Delhi.^[8] As an Air Vice Marshal, he served as the Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Training^[9] and as the Air Officer Commanding of 1 Air Defence Control Centre.^[10]

After being promoted to the rank of Air Marshal, on 9 September 2024 he took over as Senior Air Staff Officer of the Eastern Air Command at Shillong.^[11] On 1 February 2026, Air Marshal Inderpal Singh Walia took over as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command succeeding Air Marshal Surat Singh when the latter superannuated on 31 January 2026.^[12]

During his career, the air marshal has been awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2018^[1] and the Vayu Sena Medal in 2008.^[13]