Air Marshal B Suresh takes charge of IAF's western command

Air Marshal B Suresh took over as the air officer commanding-in-chief of the crucial Western Air Command on Friday.

Before this, he was heading the Southern Air Command.

Suresh, a decorated officer, was commissioned as a fighter pilot into the Indian Air Force on December 13, 1980, the air force said in a statement.

The highly-experienced fighter pilot has flown almost all the fighter aircraft of the IAF, it said.

Suresh as a "strategist and tactician of repute within the air force circles and as the exercise director, he is credited with having been the mastermind behind IAF's superlative performance during Exercise Cope India 2004, the first international bilateral exercise with the US Air Force held after a gap of nearly 40 years", the statement said.

The air marshal has held a number of coveted command and staff appointments. He led a fighter squadron that specialised in maritime air strikes, and was deployed along the western border during the Kargil war.

In another appointment, Air Marshal Amit Dev took over as the air officer in-charge personnel at the Air Headquarters, Vayu Bhawan.

Commissioned in the flying branch of IAF in December 1982 as a fighter pilot, he has a flying experience of more than 2500 hours, including operational flying on MiG- 21 and MiG-27 fighter aircraft.

Air Marshal Manavendra Singh took over as director general inspection and safety at the Air Headquarters at RK Puram on Friday.