Vivek Ram Chaudhari

He currently serves as the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS). He took over as the 24th CAS succeeding Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria on 30 September 2021. He earlier served as the 45th Vice Chief of the Air Staff and as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Air Command.

Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari PVSM AVSM VM ADC
Official portrait
24th Chief of the Air Staff
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 September 2021 (2021-09-30)
President	Ram Nath Kovind Droupadi Murmu
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Preceded by	R. K. S. Bhadauria
45th Vice Chief of the Air Staff
In office 1 July 2021 (2021-07-01) – 30 September 2021 (2021-09-30)
Preceded by	Harjit Singh Arora
Succeeded by	Sandeep Singh
Personal details
Born	(1962-09-04) 4 September 1962 (age 61)
Nationality	Indian
Children	2
Parent	Rambhau Ganapat Chaudhari (Father)
Military service
Allegiance	India
Branch/service	Indian Air Force
Years of service	29 December 1982 - Present
Rank	Air Chief Marshal
Unit	No. 28 Squadron
Commands	Chief of the Air Staff Western Air Command Lohegaon Air Force Station 8 Forward Base Support Unit No. 28 Squadron
Battles/wars	Operation Meghdoot Kargil war
Service number	16978
Awards	Param Vishisht Seva Medal Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Vayu Sena Medal

Chaudhari was born to Rambhau Ganapat Chaudhari. His mother was a school headmistress. His grandfather was a teacher at the Zila Parishad school at Koli, a village in Hadgaon taluka. He studied in primary school at Nanded. The family moved to Hyderabad as his father started a company there. He thus did his schooling from BHEL Higher Secondary School, Ramachandrapuram, Hyderabad.^{[citation needed]} He subsequently moved to Pune and enrolled in a military school. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy (61'st Course), the Air Force Academy and the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington (DSSC).

Chaudhari was commissioned in the Indian Air Force as a fighter pilot on 29 December 1982. He is a Category 'A' qualified flying instructor, and Instrument Rating Instructor and examiner. He has a flying experience of over 3800 hours on various fighter aircraft including MiG-21, MiG-23MF, MiG-29 and Su-30MKI. He was also a pioneer member of the Surya Kiran Aerobatic Display Team. As a fighter pilot, he flew operational missions during Operation Meghdoot and Operation Safed Sagar.

Chaudhari has commanded the MiG-29 squadron No. 28 Squadron IAF at Jamnagar and the forward base in Awantipora in Jammu and Kashmir. He also served as the chief operations officer of the Srinagar Air Force Station.

Flag officer

As an air commodore, he served as the Air assistant to the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik. He subsequently commanded the Lohegaon air base in Pune. He has served as an instructor at DSSC Wellington as well as Defence Services Command and Staff College at Lusaka, Zambia.

After promotion to Air Vice Marshal, Chaudhari served as the Assistant Chief of Air Staff Operations (Air Defence) at Air headquarters and as the Deputy Commandant at the Air Force Academy, Dundigul. He subsequently was appointed the Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Personnel Officers) and later as Deputy Chief of Air Staff at Air HQ. On 1 October 2019, he was appointed Senior Air Staff Officer of the Eastern Air Command in Shillong. After a short stint, on 1 August 2020, he was appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Air Command.

Chief of Air Staff

On 21 September 2021, the Government of India appointed Chaudhari as the next Chief of the Air Staff after the retirement of Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria on 30 September 2021.

During his career, Chaudhari has been awarded the Vayu Sena Medal in 2004, the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2015 and the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2021 for his service.

He is married to Neeta Chaudhari. They have two sons. His son Mihir Chaudhary is also an officer (Squadron Leader) in Indian Air Force.