Anil Khosla


Anil Khosla, PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC is a retired Indian air force officer who served as 41st Vice Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force. He assumed the office from Air Marshal Shirish Baban Deo on 1 October 2018 and was succeeded by Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria on 30 April 2019.

Early life and education

Khosla is an alumnus of National Defence Academy, Pune and National Defence College, New Delhi. He is a post-graduate from Defense Service Staff College, Wellington and has two MPhil degrees in military studies. He also attended a higher command course at the Army War College, Mhow and was awarded the Commandants medal. In addition, he attended a senior defence management course at College of Defence Management, Secunderabad.

Career

Khosla was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force in December 1979. He has clocked over 4000 hours of flying on different aircraft like SEPECAT Jaguar, MiG-21 and HAL Kiran. He has experience in both ground attack and air defence roles and specializes in maritime role. He is also an A2 category flying instructor and a fighter strike leader.
He has commanded a SEPECAT Jaguar squadron assigned to a maritime role and two IAF frontline bases, Jaisalmer AFS and Ambala AFS. He has held other key posts as well including, Principal Director at Directorate of Information and Electronic Warfare; Director in Personnel branch; Joint Director at Directorate of Concept Studies; Air Officer Commanding HQ Maritime Air Operations; Air Officer Commanding J&K Area; Senior Air Staff Officer, Central Air Command; Director General Air, Air HQ and Director General, Air HQ and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command.

Awards and medals

Khosla has been awarded several medals. He stood first in the order of merit of all the attended courses namely: Flying Instructors course, Fighter Strike leaders course, Junior command course and Staff course. He was also awarded Commandants medal for higher command course at Army war college. He is recipient of AOC-in-C commendation and CAS commendation. Presidential awards include the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, the Vayu Sena Medal and the Param Vishisht Seva Medal.

Military Awards



Param Vishisht Seva Medal
Ati Vishisht Seva Medal
Vayusena Medal
General Service Medal - Naga Hills Service
Operation Parakram Medal
Sainya Seva Medal
50th Anniversary of Independence Medal
30 Years Long Service Medal
20 Years Long Service Medal
9 Years Long Service Medal

Personal life

Khosla is married to Mrs Deepshikha Khosla and has two sons. He is a keen golfer and billiards/Snooker player. He is a national level puzzle solver and has participated in Sudoku nationals for the last five years..