After January 1, 2014, if you visit Delhi’s popular markets such as Lajpat Nagar or Sarojini Nagar, in all probability you will bump into the chief of the world’s fourth largest Air Force shopping there with his wife and children as a dotting family man.
Meet Indian Air Force (IAF) chief-designate Air Marshal Arup Raha whose affable smile will disarm you the moment you meet him and will keep you in the comfort zone till the time you are in his presence.
But don’t let his visible humility fool you, he commands over 1.3 lakh air warriors who belong to one of the most sophisticated air forces in the world, which is matched in its capability by only the top-notch US and the Russian air forces.
“About a year ago, when he was still commanding the Palam-headquartered Western Air Command (WAC), I saw him, along with his wife, casually strolling in the Lajpat Nagar market and shopping,” a serving Wing Commander told Express.
However, only the service personnel know that the understated demeanour of Raha actually hides the fierce air warrior in the Air Marshal, who has commanded a Russian-origin MiG-29 fighter squadron of the IAF during his service and has been one of the best combat pilots in the IAF.
In signs of what is a successful four-decade-long service in the Air Force, Hooghly-born Raha began his military career by joining the Khadakvasla-based National Defence Academy in 1970 and graduated from there with the President’s Gold Medal in 1973.
The son of a military doctor who served during World War II, Raha was commissioned into the Flying Branch of the IAF in December 1974 and will be the first of the Air Force chiefs, who has not seen action during any of the four conventional wars that India fought with Pakistan and China since its independence in 1947.
In these four decades, he had flown several types of aircraft in the IAF inventory and has clocked 3,400 hours of flying, mainly on fighter aircraft. Air Marshal Raha, who will take over as the next chief of the IAF on January 1 and occupy the Air House on Akbar Road, is presently serving as the Vice Chief of the Air Force since July 1 at the Air Headquarters, Vayu Bhavan.
