Surat Singh (air marshal)

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 Command and Staff College, Australia and National Defence College, Bangladesh.

He was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on 6 December 1986 from the Air Force Academy.^[4] In a career spanning over three decades, he has more than 2900 hours of flying experience across various fighter jets and has held training & staff appointments. He is a highly experienced fighter pilot and has flown various fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force which include variants of the MiG-21, MiG-29 and Su- 30 MKI.^[5] The Air Marshal's operational tenures include being the Commanding Officer of a fighter squadron in the Northern Sector. As a Group Captain, he served as the Commandant of Tactics and Combat Development Establishment (TACDE) and as the station commander of 505 Signal Unit.^[6] As an Air Commodore, he served as the Air Officer Commanding of 2 Wing at Lohegaon and as Air Commodore (Offensive Operations). He has also served as Director at the Directorate of Air Staff Inspection (DASI) at the Air Headquarters, Air-1 at South Western Air Command, Principal Director at Directorate of Personnel (Officers) & Directorate of Operations (Offensive).

As an Air Vice Marshal, he assumed the appointment of Air Defence Commander, Easter Air Command and later served as the Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Operations (Space).^[7]

After being promoted to the rank of Air Marshal, on 1 January 2023 he assumed the appointment of Director General Air (Operations) at the Air Headquarters.^[3] On 1 October 2024, Air Marshal Surat Singh took over as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command succeeding Air Marshal Sujeet Pushpakar Dharkar who moved to the Air Headquarters as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff.^[8] He superannuated on 31 January 2026 after serving for nearly four decades.^[9]

During his career, the air marshal has been awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2026,^[10] the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2015,^[11] the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2011 and the Vayu Sena Medal in 2008.^[12]