Air Marshal Surat Singh assumed the appointment of Air Officer Commanding- in-Chief, Eastern Air Command, Indian Air Force, on October 01,2024. He is an alumnus of National Defence Academy and was commissioned into the Fighter Stream of the IAF on 06 December 1986. The Air Officer has flown various fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force which include variants of the MiG-21, MiG-29 and Su- 30 MKI. He is a graduate of the Command and Staff College, Australia and National Defence College, Bangladesh. He has rich and varied experience of operational flying, training & staff assignments and has flown over 2900 hours on fighter aircraft.
The Air Officer has commanded a MiG-29 Squadron, the Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE), an Air Defence Node and fighter Station. He has served as Director at the Directorate of Air Staff Inspection (DASI), Air HQ, been Air-l at South-Western Air Command, Principal Director at Directorate of Personnel (Officers) & Directorate of Operations (Offensive) and the Assistant Chief of Air Staff Operations (Space). Prior to taking over his present appointment, he was Director General Air Operations at Air HQs. He brings a wealth of operational experience to his current job.
In recognition of his distinguished service, the Air Officer was awarded the Vayu Sena Medal (VM) in 2006, the Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) in 2011 and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) in 2015.