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Air Chief Marshal Satish Kumar Sareen PVSM,AVSM,VM,ADC
17thChief of Air Staff
In office 31 December 1995 – 31 December 1998
President	Shankar Dayal Sharma
Prime Minister	P. V. Narasimha Rao
Preceded by	S. K. Kaul
Succeeded by	Anil Tipnis
Personal details
Born	(1939-03-01)1 March 1939 (age 86) Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Spouse	Aruna Sareen
Alma mater	Defence Services Staff College
Awards	Param Vishist Seva Medal (PVSM) Ati Vishist Seva Medal (AVSM) Vayu Sena Medal (VM)
Military service
Allegiance	India
Branch/service	Indian Air Force
Years of service	1957-1998
Rank	Air Chief Marshal Service Number (5370)
Commands	Chief of the Air Staff (India) (1995–1998) Western Air Command South Western Air Command
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

Air Chief MarshalSatish Kumar Sareen,PVSM,AVSM,VM,ADC (born 1 March 1939) was theChief of Air Staff ofIndian Air Force from 31 December 1995 till 31 December 1998.^[1]

Satish Kumar Sareen's family originally hailed fromRawalpindi, in present-dayPakistan where he was born on 1 March 1939. His family moved toDelhi during thePartition of India.

Sareen joined theIAF in 1954, where he was part of theJoint Services Wing (JSW) inDehradun. The JSW was a predecessor of today'sNational Defence Academy. Sareen graduated from the first batch of the JSW and went onto the AFFC for flying training. He wascommissioned on 29 May 1957. Sareen stood first among the fighter stream pilots and was awarded the Himmatsinghji trophy.

In 1957, Sareen was posted to No.20 Squadron flying Vampire Fighters. He moved on to No.4 Squadron flying the Organs. It was with No.4 Squadron that he took part in the Goa Operations in 1961 when he flew several sorties against Portuguese targets. After the operations inGoa, Sareen took up his first non-operational appointment when he attended the Pilot Attack Instructor (PAI) course. He distinguished himself in the course and was retained as an instructor in the PAI Program, where he helped impart training to others following in the same stream.

When theIndo-Pakistani War broke out in 1965, Sareen was with No.29 Scorpios Squadron flying the Ouragans atGauhati. He undertook some sorties against targets inEast Pakistan, but the fighting was minimal in the Eastern Sector. After the war, Sareen moved to No.27 Flaming Arrows Squadron flying theHawker Hunter. After a brief stint, he was part of a detachment of pilots earmarked for conversion toMiG-21s. Sareen moved back to No.29 Squadron after it converted back to theMiG-21.

In January 1970, Sareen attended theDefence Services Staff College (DSSC) at Wellington. He passed out of DSSC in November 1970. Now aSquadron Leader, Sareen joinedEastern Air Command as thechief operations officer withAgartala AFB inTripura near the East Pakistan border.

Agartala was base to some Gnat fighters during the1971 Ind-Pak War. He was responsible for planning and launching extensivefighter,helicopter, transport operations including several successful strikes on theChittagong City. For his role, Sareen received theVayu Sena Medal.

After the war, Sareen took over as Ops 1 Officer withEastern Air Command HQ. In 1973, he was posted to No.1 Squadron flyingMiG-21s inAdampur as Senior Flight Commander. After more than two years with the Squadron, Sareen received an opportunity to be posted to theIraqi Air Force as an instructor. This was part of longstanding bilateral arrangements between the two air forces in the 1970s. Sareen took up the offer and was posted toAl-Kut military airbase inIraq. During his tenure in Iraq till 1977, Sareen undertook more than a 1000 instructional sorties.

In 1977, Sareen was thechief operations officer of No.15 Wing atBareilly. He got his first command soon after at the same airbase, No.24 Squadron flying theMiG-21bis. After promotion toGroup Captain in 1981, he took over an Air Defence Signals Unit in the Eastern Sector. Numerous Staff Appointments followed, he was Air Defence Commander, WAC, and SWAC. Air Attaché to theHigh Commission of India in London. In 1989, he returned toIndia and was commander ofSrinagar Air Force Station in theJammu andKashmir Valley. He was awarded theAti Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) for distinguished service in 1990. Soon afterwards he took over as ACAS (Ops) at Air HQ in the rank ofAir Vice-Marshal.

After a short stint as SASOCentral Air Command, Sareen took overSouth Western Air Command as AOC-in-C. After about a year, he moved onto as the AOC-in-CWestern Air Command - India's Premier Air Command. It was in this capacity he received thePVSM in 1995. Sareen was posted back to Air HQ as theVice Chief of Air Staff responsible for allIAF defensive & offensive operations and intelligence activities.

Finally, in December 1995, he was promoted to Air Chief Marshal to take over as theChief of the Air Staff,Indian Air Force. His tenure saw thenuclear tests inPokhran. Within the Air force, it saw wide-ranging changes in the strategic, operational, training, maintenance and flight safety doctrines & performance of theIAF. Particular attention paid to the welfare of serving and retiredAir Force personnel and their families. Air Chief Marshal Sareen retired on 31 December 1998, handing over the charge to Air Chief MarshalAnil Yashwant Tipnis.

^[1]

• 1939 births
• Living people
• Chiefs of the Air Staff (India)
• Vice chiefs of Air Staff (India)
• Indian Air Force air marshals
• Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal

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