Pakistan's Air Chief Meets Army Commander

Chief of Pakistan Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, currently in Sri Lanka at the invitation of his Sri Lankan counterpart paid a courtesy call on Lieutenant General Crishanthe De Silva, Commander of the Army on Monday (8) at the Army Headquarters.

No sooner than the Pakistan’s 21st Chief of Air Force reached the entrance to the MoD grounds, Lieutenant Colonel Anil Somaweera, Commanding Officer at Headquarters Battalion welcomed him and invited him to the Guard Turn Out before Major General Nandana Udawatte, Adjutant General of the Army formally received him and escorted him to take the salute.

Seconds after it, the stage was set to accord a Guard of Honour salute to the visiting Air Chief of Pakistan who was making his first visit to Sri Lanka in his capacity as the Air Chief. In the presence of a gathering of senior officers, the visiting chief of Air Force afterwards took the salute from the special dais in conformity with military formalities. The salute, presented by SLLI troops was coloured by the presence of SLLI’s mascot, ‘Kandula’, the baby elephant.

At the foyer to the Commander’s Secretariat, the Commander of the Army after extending warm greetings to the Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, introduced his Principal Staff Officers (PSO) to the Air Force Chief and accompanied him to the Commander’s Office for a mutual interactive dialogue.

Lieutenant General Crishanthe De Silva during cordial interactions recalled sound relationships that both military organizations have been maintaining and underlined the importance of further promoting such goodwill and broad understanding.

The cordial courtesy meet culminated with exchange of mementos that symbolize long-lasting goodwill and cooperation.

Major General Sumedha Perera, Deputy Chief of Staff and PSOs were also present during the courtesy call on the Commander of the Army.

The official profile of Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman is as follows;

Born in 1959, Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman received his intermediate and graduate education at PAF College, Sargodha. Subsequently, he joined Pakistan Air Force and graduated from PAF Academy in 1980. After completing Fighter and Operational Conversion Courses, he flew various types of fighter aircraft on PAF inventory including F-16s. As a distinguished fighter pilot and Combat Commander, he also evaluated fifth generation fighters, like Gripen and Eurofighter Typhoon.

He has commanded a Fighter Squadron, Combat Commanders’ School, a Fighter Base and Central Air Command of the Pakistan Air Force. The Air Chief having vast experience of flying has a grand total of over 3000 fighter hrs to his credit.

In staff appointments at Air Headquarters, the Air Chief Marshal has served as Director Plans, Director Operations, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operations), Air Officer Commanding Central Air Command, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (Training), and Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (Operations). He is a graduate of PAF Air War College and Royal College of Defence Studies, UK. He also has Master’s degree in International Relations from Kings College, London. The Air Chief also has the unique honour of representing Pakistan at Harvard Kennedy School, USA on National and International Security Course.

Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman assumed the Command of the PAF on 19 March, 2015. He is married and blessed with four children. In recognition of his meritorious and exceptionally dedicated services, he has been decorated with Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military), Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military), Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Military) and Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (Military) medals.