Air Marshal Ajit Bhavnani (Retd), PVSM, AVSM, VM (Gallantry) retired from Indian Air Force in October 2006 as Vice Chief of Air Staff after 40 years of a highly distinguished career. During the 1971 Indo-Pak war, he saw active service and flew 22 missions into enemy territory. For his outstanding contribution to the war effort, he was bestowed the. gallantry award of Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry).. He studied at La Martiniere College, Lucknow and is a graduate of Defence Services Staff College Wellington where he gained a MSc degree in Defence Studies from Madras University.. In 1984, he had the singular distinction of being selected as Leader of IAF team to train and induct the latest state-of-the-art Mirage 2000 aircraft from France. On return, he was appointed as CO of the first Mirage 2000 squadron of IAF, Battle Axes, and was responsible for successfully ushering a new era in air war tactics for the IAF. This combat expertise was gainfully utilised on his appointment as Commandant of IAF’s Top Gun School: TACDE, where he was awarded Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) by the President of India for his exceptional professional leadership. He served in several key appointments such as Defence Attache in Sweden, Principal Director Offensive Operations at Air HQ and Commander of IAF’s premier air base, Gwalior.. As Air Marshal, he was appointed as Commander-in-Chief of Strategic (Nuclear) Forces Command. As one of the pioneers in this exclusive appointment, he was responsible for successfully laying a strong foundation for the nation’s nuclear forces. He was then appointed as Vice Chief of the IAF and awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) for outstanding service to the nation.. Post retirement, he has served in: - Government’s Review Committee on DRDO - Civil Aviation Committee for modernization of Airports & Nav Systems. - Indo-Israeli Strategic Dialogue. - MD & CEO of TATA Group aerospace company, NOVA Integrated Systems. - CII’s National Committee on Defence.. Currently with, - Global Zero movement on Nuclear Disarmament. - RAND Corp Strategic Dialogue with IAF-USAF. - Aspen Institute India (Ananta). - Sr Advisor TATA Gp in Aerospace and Defence strategies.
