Yalla Umesh

The air officer is an alumnus of the College of Defence Management and the National Defence College, New Delhi. He holds a Doctorate in Management, Post Graduate degrees in Industrial Engineering and Management, and a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering.^[3]

He was commissioned into the Aeronautical Engineering (Mechanical) Branch of the Indian Air Force on 4 September 1989.^[4] He is a 'Category A' aeronautical engineer and has held diverse engineering and leadership appointments across major combat, transport and specialist fleets of the Indian Air Force. During his distinguished service, he has held several key appointments, which include assistant chief of the Air Staff Engineering, air commodore engineering (transport), air officer commanding of a guided weapon base repair depot and chief engineering officer at a UN-operated airfield in DR Congo.^[3]

On getting promoted to the rank of air marshal, he assumed the appointment as the director general (aircraft) at the Air Headquarters on 1 November 2024. A year later on 1 December 2025, he took over as the air officer commanding-in-chief, Maintenance Command succeeding Air Marshal Vijay Kumar Garg, who superannuated on 30 November 2025.^[5]

For his distinguished service, he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2022.^[6] He has also received commendations from the Chief of Air Staff and AOC-in-C, Central Air Command.^[3]