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Ashutosh Dixit
Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, AVSM, VM, VSM is a serving officer of the Indian Air Force. He is currently serving as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Central Air Command. He assumed the post upon superannuation of Air Marshal Ravi Gopal Krishana Kapoor.[2] He was previously serving as the 47th Deputy Chief of the Air Staff,[3] prior to that he served as the Senior Air Staff Officer, South Western Air Command. Early life and educationHe is an alumnus of National Defence Academy, Pune and the Air Force Academy, Dundigal. He is also an alumnus of Defence Services Staff College, Bangladesh and National Defence College and National Defence College, New Delhi.[4] CareerAir Marshal Ashutosh Dixit was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force on 6 December 1986 from the Air Force Academy, Dundigal. During his illustrious career spanning more than 37 years, the Air Officer has held several significant field and staff appointments. The Air Officer is an experimental test pilot and a Qualified Flying Instructor with more than 3300 hours of flying experience on a variety of aircraft in the IAF inventory.[5] He has participated in Operation Rakshak and Operation Safed Sagar during the Kargil War. As a Commanding Officer, he re-equipped one of the Squadrons of Indian Air Force with the state-of-the-art Mirage aircraft and later commanded a front-line fighter air base in the Western Sector and a premiere fighter training base in the Southern Sector. He has extensive flying experience primarily on Mirage 2000. He served as the Commanding officer of No. 9 Squadron as well as the Flying Training School in Bengaluru.[4] He has also served as a Directing Staff at the Air Force Test Pilots School. As Air Commodore, he served as the Principal Director for Air Staff Requirements at the Air Headquarter, New Delhi and later served as the Air Officer Commanding of Air Force Station Bidar, Karnataka.[3][6] As Air Vice Marshal, he served as the Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Air Headquarter, New Delhi. Later, he served as the Air Defence Commander of the Southern Air Command, Trivandrum and Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Plans at the Air Headquarters, New Delhi.[7] After being promoted to the rank of Air Marshal in October 2021, he served as the Senior Air Staff Officer, South Western Air Command till 14 May 2023.[8] On 15 May 2023, he took over as the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff from Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari. As the Deputy Chief of Air Staff in Air Headquarters, Dixit played a critical role in pushing forward the Aatmanirbharta (self-reliance) initiative of the defence forces. He has headed several projects with the adaption of future technologies and worked towards ensuring that the IAF achieves modernization while maintaining a steady focus on 'Aatmanirbharta Self Reliance.[9] A number of indigenous aircraft projects including LCA Mark-1A, Mark-2 and AMCA have seen significant forward movement during his tenure as Deputy Chief.[10] On 1 September 2024, Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit took over as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Central Air Command succeeding Air Marshal Ravi Gopal Krishana Kapoor who superannuated from service on 31 August 2024.[2] Honours and decorationsDuring his career, Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit has been awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2023,[11] Vayu Sena Medal in 2006 [12] and Vishisht Seva Medal[13] in 2011 for his service.
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