Pradeep Vasant Naik

Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik PVSM, VSM,RETD,IAF
Born	(1949-07-22) July 22, 1949 Nagpur, Maharashtra
Allegiance	India
Service/branch	Indian Air Force
Years of service	June 21, 1969 – 2012
Rank	Air Chief Marshal
Commands held	Indian Air Force
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Awards	Param Vishisht Seva Medal Vishisht Seva Medal
Other work	Honorary Aides-de-Camp (ADC) to the President of India

Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik served as the 19th Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force.^[1] He took office on May 31, 2009, becoming the nineteenth Chief of Air Staff following the retirement of Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major and is succeeded in office by Air Chief Marshal Norman Anil Kumar Browne.

Career

Air Chief Marshal Naik was born on July 22, 1949 at Nagpur,Maharashtra and was commissioned into the Indian Air Force on June 21, 1969 as a fighter pilot. He is an alumnus of Sainik School, Satara and National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla in Maharashtra. During his 42 years of service, he has served in a variety of command staff and instructional appointments.

He has over 3,000 hrs of flying on his log. The Air Chief also took part in 1971 war air actions in the Eastern and Western sector. Before taking over as Chief of Air Staff, he was the Vice Chief of Air Staff of the Indian Air Force. He has also served as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Allahabad-based, Central Air Command.

Besides being a fellow of the National Defence College, New Delhi, he is a Qualified Flying Instructor and a Fighter Combat Leader.He has served as Directing staff at DSSC Wellington, India and at Tactics & Air Combat Development Establishment( TACDE).

Personal life

Air Chief Marshal Naik and his wife Madhubala Naik have two sons; the elder was a fighter pilot with the Indian Air Force and later transferred to the transport stream, and the younger, a Chief Officer in the Merchant Navy.

Awards

	Param Vishisht Seva Medal	Vishisht Seva Medal
Samanya Seva Medal	Poorvi Star Medal	Paschimi Star Medal	Special Service Medal
Sangram Medal	Operation Parakram Medal	Sainya Seva Medal	50th Anniversary Independence Medal
25th Anniversary Independence Medal	30 Years Long Service Medal	20 Years Long Service Medal	9 Years Long Service Medal

References

External links

Media related to Pradeep Vasant Naik at Wikimedia Commons

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Chief of the Air Staff (India)
Commander, Indian Group (1919–1920)	Tom Webb-Bowen
Air Officer Commanding RAF, India (1920–1938)	Tom Webb-Bowen Philip Game Sir Edward Leonard Ellington Sir Geoffrey Salmond Sir John Miles Steel Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté
Air Officer Commander-in-Chief, Air Forces in India (1938–1947)	Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté Sir John Frederick Andrews Higgins Sir Patrick Playfair Sir Richard Peirse Sir Guy Garrod Meredith Thomas Sir Roderick Carr Sir Hugh Walmsley
Air Officer Commanding, Royal Indian Air Force (1947–1948)	Sir Thomas Elmhirst**
Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Air Force (1948–1950)	Sir Thomas Elmhirst**
Commander-in-Chief, Indian Air Force (1950–1955)	Sir Thomas Elmhirst** Sir Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman** Gerald Gibbs** Subroto Mukerjee
Chief of the Air Staff (1955–present)	Subroto Mukerjee Aspy Engineer Arjan Singh Pratap Chandra Lal Om Prakash Mehra Hrushikesh Moolgavkar I. H. Latif Dilbagh Singh Lakshman Madhav Katre Denis La Fontaine Surinder Mehra Nirmal Chandra Suri Swaroop Kaul Satish Kumar Sareen Anil Tipnis Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy Shashindra Pal Tyagi Fali Homi Major Pradeep Vasant Naik Norman Anil Kumar Browne Arup Raha Birender Singh Dhanoa (designate)
(**Seconded from the Royal Air Force)