Narayan Ramakrishnan Turns 100, IAF Chief Joins Celebration
Indian Air Force veteran Narayan Ramakrishnan turns 100
Master Warrant Officer (Honorary Flying Officer) Narayan Ramakrishnan (Retd) reached the age of 100 on 11 September 2026, marking a rare personal milestone for a former member of the Indian Air Force. The Air Force joined veterans in marking the occasion, with Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh also taking part in the birthday celebration.
Ramakrishnan was born on 11 September 1926. He served in the Indian Air Force for several decades before retiring in 1981. The Air Force’s account of the occasion described him as a veteran who had served the organisation with distinction.
His lifetime has covered a large part of the history of Indian military aviation. When Ramakrishnan was born in 1926, the Indian Air Force did not yet exist as a separate service. The force was formally established on 8 October 1932, six years after his birth. Its first operational flight followed on 1 April 1933, when a small group of six Royal Air Force-trained officers and 19 Haveli Sepoys operated four Westland Wapiti IIA aircraft from Drigh Road in Karachi, then part of British India.
By the time Ramakrishnan entered his later years of service, the organisation had changed greatly from the small force created in the 1930s. The IAF expanded through the Second World War and India’s independence, taking on a wider role in defending the country’s airspace. In 1950, after India became a republic, the word “Royal” was dropped from the service’s name. Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee became the first Indian Chief of the Air Staff in 1954.
Ramakrishnan retired in 1981, a year that came after several major changes in the IAF’s history. The force had by then developed into a much larger organisation, with generations of airmen working across flying, engineering, administration, communications, logistics and other specialist areas.
The title attached to Ramakrishnan’s name also reflects a system of honorary ranks used by the IAF. The service continues to grant honorary commissions to selected personnel, including Master Warrant Officers and Warrant Officers, in recognition of their service. In 2026, the IAF announced honorary rank appointments for serving and retiring personnel, including Honorary Flying Officer and Honorary Flight Lieutenant ranks.
The connection between serving personnel and former members of the force remains an important part of the IAF’s wider organisation. The Directorate of Air Veterans maintains services for former personnel, while the Indian Air Force Benevolent Association provides a range of welfare assistance to serving personnel, retired air warriors, families and dependants. The association traces its origins to 1940.
Veterans also remain part of the wider defence community through national programmes. Defence Forces Veterans’ Day, observed every year on 14 January, brings serving personnel, veterans and government agencies together at locations across the country. In 2026, events were held through Rajya Sainik Boards and Zila Sainik Boards, with facilities including pension, healthcare and grievance assistance for veterans and their families.
For the IAF, Ramakrishnan’s centenary also provides a link between two very different periods of the service. His birth came before the Air Force was formed. He retired in 1981, after nearly five decades of change in Indian aviation and defence. Today, the service operates with aircraft, weapons and systems far removed from the early Westland Wapitis that formed its first operational fleet.
Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh leads the current Air Force leadership, having taken over as Chief of the Air Staff in September 2024. He was commissioned into the fighter stream of the IAF in 1984 and has served in operational, test and senior command appointments during a career spanning four decades.
That makes the participation of the current Air Chief alongside IAF veterans at Ramakrishnan’s 100th birthday particularly notable. It brought together people from very different stages of the service’s history at one gathering.
The IAF’s public message marking the occasion focused on Ramakrishnan’s age, his years of service and the continuing connection between the force and its veterans. No further details about his individual postings or operational assignments were given in the announcement.
For Ramakrishnan, the date marked a personal milestone. For the Air Force, it was also an occasion to recognise one of the many former personnel whose careers form part of its long institutional history.
Born in 1926, Ramakrishnan has now lived through a century that saw the Indian Air Force grow from a small colonial-era flying unit into a modern military service. He retired from that service in 1981. Forty-five years later, former colleagues and the current Air Force leadership gathered to mark his 100th birthday.
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