Farooq Feroze Khan

Air Chief Marshal Farooq Feroze Khan SJ, NI(M)
فاروق فیروز خان
13th Chief of Air Staff
In office March 9, 1991 – November 8, 1994
President	Ghulam Ishaq Khan Farooq Leghari
Prime Minister	Nawaz Sharif
Preceded by	Hakeemullah Khan Durrani
Succeeded by	Abbas Khattak
Personal details
Born	August 17, 1939 Punjab British State, British Indian Empire
Relations	Son of Feroze Khan
Awards	Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military) Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military) Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Military) Sitara-e-Basalat
Military service
Allegiance	Pakistan
Service/branch	Pakistan Air Force
Years of service	1959-1997
Rank	Air Chief Marshal (General)
Unit	No. 14 Squadron Tail choppers
Commands	AOC PAF Base Masroor OC Sargodha Air Force Base Deputy Chief of Air Staff (Operations) Vice Chief of Air Staff MD Pakistan International Airlines Chief of Air Staff Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee No. 9 Squadron Griffins No. 33 (Fighter/Multi-Role) Wing
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Soviet War in Afghanistan

Farooq Feroze Khan, NI(M), SBt, (born 17 August 1939), is a retired four-star air officer (Air Chief Marshal) in the Pakistan Air Force who was the 13th Chief of Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) from 1991 to 1994. Khan was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee from 1994 to 1997. He is the only Air Force four-star general and air officer to accomplish this task.^[1]

Air Force career

Farooq Feroze Khan joined the PAF after completing his Senior Cambridge from PAF Public School Sargodha where he belonged to 1st entry (69 – Fury House).^[2] He was selected for training at the USAF Academy and on return, was commissioned in the PAF on 4 January 1959 in the 27th GD(P) Course. He has flown all the aircraft in the PAF inventory and even the Hunters, which he flew while on attachment to Royal Air Force.

Command and staff appointments

A graduate of Flight Leaders School, F Khan commanded No. 9 Squadron, No. 33 Wing, and two fighter bases; PAF Base Sargodha and Masroor. He also has the distinction of commanding a Fighter Wing in the United Arab Emirates Air Force for three years.^[1]

Some of his staff appointments included Personal Staff Officer to the Chief of Air Staff, Assistant Commandant of PAF Air War College, Senior Air Staff Officer at the Southern Air Command, ACAS (Plans), DCAS (Operations) and Vice Chief of Air Staff. He was seconded to the Pakistan International Airlines as Chairman/MD before assuming command of the PAF in 1991.

Chief of Air Staff

Khan assumed the command of PAF at a difficult time. The Pressler Amendment had just been enforced and all the plans made for the restructuring of the Force had to be changed. He undertook the review and oversaw the induction of Australian Mirages, their upgrade, and the induction of F-7s. He also launched the search for a hi-tech weapon system in lieu of the F-16s that had been denied. he ensured the smooth amalgamation of the engineering branches, reorganized the Personnel Branch, and injected new life into the Inspectorate system by creating the post of Inspector General with wide ranging powers.

He was decorated with Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military), Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military), Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Military) and Sitara-e-Basalat.^[1] He was CAS for three years and eight months before becoming CJCSC for three years from 1994 to 1997.

Personal life

Zafar Khan,an olympian field hockey silver and gold medalist is the cousin of Farooq Feroze Khan. They are a descendant of the Burki Pathans of Jalandar and belongs to the Danishmand branch (khel). He is married to Farzana Khan and has three children. He resides in Islamabad.

See also

• PAF Chiefs of Air Staff

References

1. The Story of the Pakistan Air Force 1988-1998: A Battle Against Odds (Oxford University Press, 2000)
2. "Profile of Farooq Feroze Khan" Sargodhians website, accessed 1 June 2009