The Indian Air Force on Wednesday paid a tribute to Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh on his 101st birth anniversary.
Marshal Arjan Singh, who led the India Air Force during the 1965 India-Pakistan war, passed away on September 16, 2017 at the age of 98. Singh was the only officer of the IAF to be promoted to five-star rank, equal to a field marshal in the Army.
Paying tribute on his birth anniversary, the IAF said in a tweet, "#Remembering: On the occasion of 101st Birth Anniversary of Marshal of the Indian Air Force (#MIAF) Arjan Singh DFC, IAF pays tribute to this distinguished Air-warrior. He was a great leader, known for his professionalism & strategic vision."
An icon in the country's military history, Singh had led the IAF in the 1965 Indo-Pak when he was just 44-year-old.
Arjan Singh was born on April 15, 1919, in Lyalpur of undivided Punjab. He completed his education from Montgomery. In 1938 when he got selected for the Empire Pilot training course at RAF Cranwell, he was still in college and was only 19 years old.
After independence, he took over the command of Air Force Station, Ambala, in the rank of Group Captain. Towards the end of the 1962 war, he was appointed as the Deputy Chief of Air Staff and became the Vice Chief of Air Staff by 1963.
On August 1, 1964, Arjan Singh took over as the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) in the rank of Air Marshal. A testing time came in September 1965 when Pakistan launched Operation Grand Slam, in which an armoured thrust targeted the vital town of Akhnur, he was summoned by the Defence Minister with a request for air support. When asked how quickly the IAF would be ready for operations, he replied with his characteristic nonchalance,"...in an hour".
And true to his word, the Air Force struck the Pakistani offensive in an hour.
He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan for his leadership during the 1965 War and subsequently the rank of the CAS was upgraded to that of Air Chief Marshal. Arjan Singh became the first Air Chief Marshal of the Indian Air Force. He retired in July 1969, there upon accepting ambassadorship to Switzerland.
In recognition of his services, the government conferred the rank of the Marshal of the Air Force onto Arjan Singh in January 2002, making him the first and the only 'Five Star' rank officer of the Indian Air Force. In 2016 Air Force Station, Panagarh was renamed as Air Force Station Arjan Singh.
