Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy

Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy PVSM, AVSM, VM & Bar, ADC (born January 1943) is a former Air Officer in the Indian Air Force (IAF). He served as the 19th Chief of the Air Staff from 2001 to 2004. He raised the first electronic warfare squadron in the Indian Air Force. He has the rare distinction of having commanded three operational commands of the IAF - the Western, South-Western and Central Air Commands.

Early life and education Krishnaswamy was born on 18 January 1943 in Srinivasapuram, Madras. He completed his schooling as well as his college education in the same city.

Military career Krishnaswamy was commissioned as a fighter pilot in December 1961. In the early years of his service, he flew the Hawker Hunter, the Folland Gnat and the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, he flew the Gnats and was mentioned in dispatches. He qualified as a fighter combat leader and served as a senior directing staff at the premier Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE).

Krishnaswamy specialised in electronic warfare (EW) and raised and commanded the first EW Squadron of the IAF. The squadron consisted of MiG-21 and English Electric Canberra aircraft. He subsequently served as the Deputy Air Advisor to the High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom at India House, London. Promoted to the rank of Group Captain, he served as the Chief Operations Officer of the Maharajpur Air Force Station in Gwalior.

Air rank Krishnaswamy attended the prestigious National Defence College, New Delhi as part of the 25th course in 1985. After the course, he took over as the Director of Air Staff requirements at Air headquarters. He was promoted to the substantive rank of Air Commodore on 1 September 1988.

Krishnaswamy was promoted to Commander-in-Chief grade on 1 April 1997 and appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Central Air Command at Allahabad. After a short stint, he was appointed AOC-in-C South Western Air Command (SWAC) at Jodhpur in November. On 26 January 1998, he was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service of the highest order. He served in this appointment during the Kargil War. He was awarded the Agni Award for Self Reliance in August 1999 for promoting indigenous development in the Indian Armed services. On 1 November 1999, he was appointed AOC-in-C of the premier Western Air Command (WAC). He took command from Air Marshal Vinod Patney at HQ WAC.

On 1 August 2001, Krishnaswamy moved to Air HQ after being appointed Vice Chief of the Air Staff. On 30 October 2001, the Government of India announced that Krishnaswamy was appointed the next Chief of the Air Staff.

Chief of Air Staff Krishnaswamy took over as the 19th Chief of the Air Staff on 31 December 2001 from Air Chief Marshal Anil Yashwant Tipnis. He served as full tenure of three years and relinquished command on 31 December 2004, handing over to Air Chief Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi.

Awards and decorations

Dates of rank