Air Marshal Kumaria to be new Western Command chief

NEW DELHI - Air Marshal DC Kumaria will take over as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Air Command (WAC) here on January 1, 2011.

Commissioned as a fighter pilot in the flying branch of the Indian Air Force on July 2 1973, Air Marshal Kumaria is a graduate of Defence Services Staff College (DSSC).

He is a qualified weapon instructor, having undergone the QWI course in the United Kingdom and a fighter combat leader, who also served as a Directing Staff at the Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE).

He has held many important field and staff appointments in his service career. He has been Assistant Advisor (Air) at Indian High Commission in Dhaka, Bangladesh and has served as Defence Attach� at Indian Embassy in Rome (Italy) with concurrent accreditation to the Iberian countries.

He was especially selected to write the air power doctrine of the IAF in 1994. e was the first Assistant Chief of Air Staff Operations (Space) and the first Director General Air (Operations) at Air Headquarters (Vayu Bhavan).

Before taking over as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Kumaria was the Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) at the South Western Air Command at Gandhinagar.

He was awarded Vayu Sena Medal in 1983, Vishisht Seva Medal in 1996 and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2007 for distinguished service of high order. (ANI)