Vice Chief of the Air Staff (Pakistan)

Vice Chief of the Air Staff
وائس چیف آف ایئر سٹاف
Incumbent
Air Marshal Hamid Rashid Randhawa
since 21 March 2022
 Pakistan Air Force
TypeSecond-in-command of Pakistan Air Force
AbbreviationVCAS
Reports toChief of the Air Staff
SeatAHQ (PAF), Islamabad
DeputyDeputy Chief of the Air Staff

The Vice Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS) is the principal deputy and second-in-command of the Pakistan Air Force, reporting under the Chief of the Air Staff.[1][2] Before Mohammad Akhtar's appointment, the position was called Chief of Staff. When he took over, it was renamed Deputy Chief of Air Staff, and in 1979, it became Vice Chief of Staff, typically held by an Air Marshal, a three-star rank air force officer, who is responsible for flight safety, intelligence, procurement, public relations, and the PAF Air War College.[2]

The current VCAS is Air Marshal Hamid Rashid Randhawa.

List of Vice Chiefs of the Air Staff

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Each individual listed below has held the same position, which was titled Chief of Staff from 1948 to 1964, Deputy Chief of Air Staff from 1964 to 1979, and Vice Chief of the Air Staff since 1979.

Name Appointment date Left office References
Douglas Lloyd Amlot April 1949 July 1951 [3][4]
Haider Raza 20 December 1954 20 June 1957 [5]
Maqbool Rabb 21 June 1957 24 March 1959 [5]
M. A. Rahman 29 March 1959 25 November 1964 [5]
Mohammad Akhtar 26 November 1964 8 April 1966 [5]
Stephen Aratoon Yousaf 9 April 1966 18 April 1967 [5]
Abdul Qadir 19 April 1967 13 January 1969 [5]
Khyber Khan 1 February 1969 19 March 1970 [5]
Eric G. Hall 1 April 1970 3 June 1972 [5]
Saeedullah Khan 22 June 1972 29 June 1973 [5]
Chaudhary Rab Nawaz 21 July 1973 12 May 1974 [5]
Michael John O'Brian 13 May 1974 31 August 1975 [5]
M. Mahmood Hasan 1 September 1975 22 July 1978 [5]
Ayaz Ahmed Khan 10 August 1979 21 July 1981 [5]
A Rashid Shaikh 22 July 1981 April 1984 [5]
Jamal A. Khan April 1984 December 1985 [5]
Shabbir Hussain Syed December 1985 March 1988 [5]
Farooq Feroze Khan March 1988 December 1989 [5]
Syed Masood Hatif February 1990 July 1993 [5]
Shafique Haider July 1993 November 1994 [6]
Muhammad Arshad Chaudhry December 1994 January 1997 [5]
Pervaiz Mehdi Qureshi May 1997 November 1997 [6]
Aliuddin December 1997 November 1999 [6]
Hifazat Ullah Khan 29 March 2009 4 October 2010
Tahir Rafique Butt 5 October 2010 8 June 2012
Farhat Hussain Khan 9 June 2012 9 July 2013 [7]
Sohail Gul 8 August 2014 10 April 2015 [8]
Saeed Muhammad Khan 11 April 2015 5 October 2017 [9]
Farooq Habib 6 October 2017 3 November 2018 [10]
Aasim Zaheer 4 November 2018 17 January 2020 [11]
Ahmer Shehzad Leghari 18 January 2020 19 March 2021 [12]
Syed Noman Ali 20 March 2021 20 March 2022
Muhammad Zahid Mahmood 21 March 2022 Incumbent [13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "PAF Structure – Principal Staff Officers". Pakistan Air Force. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b Khan, H. "Command & Structure". PakDef Military Consortium. Archived from the original on 21 August 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  3. ^ AMLOT TO OFFICIATE FOR ATCHERLEY New RPAF Commander's Impressive Record. The Civil and Military Gazette of Lahore. 11 November 1949. Amlot has assumed command of the R.PA.F., during the absence of Air Vice-Marshal R. L. R. Atcherley in Australia. Air Commodore Amlot has been with the R.P.A.F. since August 1948. Prior to his appointment in April this year as Chief of Staff.
  4. ^ "Air Commodore D L Amlot (37441)".
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s History of the Pakistan Air Force, 1947-1982, Pakistan Air Force, 1982 (p. 222)
  6. ^ a b c Shaikh, A. Rashid (2000). The Story of Pakistan Air Force: A Battle Against Odds, 1988-1998. Shaheen Foundation. p. 370.
  7. ^ "Air Marshal Farhat Hussain Khan Appointed as Vice chief of Air Staff" (PDF). Pakistan Air Force. 9 June 2012.
  8. ^ "Sohail Gul appointed Vice Chief of Air Staff". Dawn. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  9. ^ "Saeed appointed Vice Chief of Air Staff". The Nation. 11 April 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  10. ^ "Air Marshal Farooq Habib appointed as Vice Chief of the Air Staff". The News International. 6 October 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  11. ^ "Aasim Zaheer named Vice Chief of Air Staff". Dawn. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  12. ^ Anis, Muhammad (18 January 2020). "Air Marshal Leghari made VCAS, Commodore Faisal promoted". The News International. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Air Marshal Zahid becomes Vice Chief of Air Staff". The News International. 22 March 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
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