Tarun Chaudhry

He is an alumnus of the 75th Course of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla^[3] and the Air Force Academy, Dundigal.^[4] He is also an alumnus of College of Air Warfare and National Defence College, New Delhi.^[1] He holds an MPhil in Defence and Strategic Studies from Osmania and Madras universities.

The air officer was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on 16 December 1989 from the Air Force Academy.^[5] In a career spanning over three decades, he has over 4200 hours of flying experience. He has held various command, staff & instructional appointments. The Air Marshal's operational tenures include being the Commanding Officer of No. 17 Squadron (Golden Arrows)^[6] and served as Station Commander of No. 38 Wing. As a Group Captain, he served as the Defence Attaché at the Embassy of India, Sweden and as DPO-1(F) at the Air headquarters, New Delhi.^[7]

As an Air Commodore, he served as the Air Officer Commanding of No. 5 Wing (Kalaikunda Air Force Station),^[8] as Air Cmde (Projects)^[9] and later as the Air Cmde (PO-1) at Air headquarters, New Delhi. As an Air Vice Marshal, he served as the Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Projects.^[10]

After getting promoted to the rank of Air Marshal on 1 January 2025, he assumed the appointment of Senior Air Staff Officer, Southern Air Command.^[2] A year and half later, on 1 June 2026, Air Marshal Chaudhry took over as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Central Air Command succeeding Air Marshal Balakrishnan Manikantan who superannuated on 31 May 2026.^[11]

During his career, he has been awarded with the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2026^[12] and the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2012.^[13]