--- title: "Who is the only air force officer to be promoted to the five-star rank?" description: "Who is the only air force officer to be promoted to the five-star rank?" author: "Gurmeet Kaur" published: 2019-03-28 canonical: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/51935/who-is-the-only-air-force-officer-to-be-promoted-to-the-five-star-rank category: "general knowledge" tags: ["indian airforce"] reading_time: 2 minutes --- # Who is the only air force officer to be promoted to the five-star rank? Who is the only air force officer to be promoted to the five-[star](https://www.mindstick.com/news/1950/spellbinding-new-image-had-captured-an-extraordinary-phenomenon-in-space) [rank](https://www.mindstick.com/interview/34502/difference-between-rank-vs-dense_rank)? ## Answers ### Answer by UTKARSHA SINGHROUL **War hero “Marshal Arjan Singh” is the only [Air Force](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/35598/in-which-year-indian-air-force-established) Officer, who has been promoted to the five-star rank.** ![Who is the only air force officer to be promoted to the five-star rank?](https://answers.mindstick.com/questionanswer/7fc2bcda-a038-48d3-8ff3-6ff9b5f94063/images/dbc5a5ba-f1ec-4458-acc5-f5e296b75c9e.jpeg)\ He led **Indian Air Force during the [India-Pakistan War](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/51808/on-which-date-the-1st-indo-pak-war-was-started) in the year 1965**. For his active commanding skills **during India-Pakistan War of 1965, he was awarded the ‘Padma Vibhushan’**. In the very next year, in **1966, he became the first Indian Air Force Officer gets promoted to ‘Air Chief Marshal’.** He **retired from the Air Force while serving the post of Air Chief Marshal on January 15, 1966**. After that, he was very **active as a Diplomat, [Politician](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/48510/when-was-the-iqbal-the-life-of-a-poet-philosopher-and-politician-written), and Advisor of the Indian [Government](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/view/276/performance-of-government-in-the-center)**. He was appointed as the Indian [Ambassador](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/30774/who-has-been-appointed-the-new-ambassador-to-principality-of-monaco) to Switzerland and the Vatican simultaneously in the year 1971. Later from 1974 to 1977, he was appointed as the ‘High Commissioner to Kenya’. From 1989 to 1990, he served as the Lieutenant [Governor](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/39589/name-the-former-chief-minister-of-gujarat-who-has-been-appointed-as-the-governor-of-madhya-pradesh) of Delhi. Then, **in January 2002, he was appointed as the “Marshal of the Air Force”**. This made him promoted to five-star rank and became the first and only officer of Indian Air Force to rank as the Marshal of the Air Force. It is equal to Army Rank of ‘Field Marshal’. Excluding him, **the only two officers promoted to five-star rank are Field Marshals Sam Manekshaw and K. M. Cariappa of the [Army](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/view/338/hidden-enemy-of-indian-army).** **He died at the age of 98 years, on September 16, 2017, due to Cardiac Arrest.** He **was the oldest serving military officer in the Country**. His last rites ceremony was felicitated with the honor and was accorded a 17-gun salute. His last rites ceremony was attended by many dignitaries. Whereas, before his death PM [Narendra Modi](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/view/342/who-is-narendra-modi), Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and the three service chiefs of Army, Air Force, and [Navy](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/35601/indian-navy-day-observed-on) visited Marshal Arjan Singh in the hospital. --- Original Source: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/51935/who-is-the-only-air-force-officer-to-be-promoted-to-the-five-star-rank Copyright © MindStick Software Pvt. Ltd. This Markdown version is provided for developers, AI systems, and offline reading.