Radhakrishnan to take charge of Southern AC

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 30: Air Marshal S Radhakrishnan will take over as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Air Command here on Wednesday, Oct 1.

Commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force in 1970, Air Marshal Radhakrishnan is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy. A qualified flying instructor and a fighter combat leader, he has logged in over 4,000 hours of flying on a variety of combat and trainer aircraft.

Air Marshal Radhakrishnan had held a variety of operational and staff appointments that included command of a frontline fighter squadron and an Air Defence Direction Centre in the sensitive Rajasthan sector.

He was the Air Officer Commanding of a fighter base in the Eastern sector and the Principal Director of Offensive operations at the Air Headquarters.

A native of Thiruvananthapuram, he is from the first batch of the Sainik School, Kazhakuttam, and also the first from the institution to be appointed as a Commander-in-Chief.

Prior to the present assignment, Air Marshal Radhakrishnan was the Commander-in-Chief of the strategically important Andaman and Nicobar Command, the only operational integrated command of the Indian armed forces.

He was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2002.

UNI