Hifazat Ullah Khan

Hifazat Ullah Khan HI(M) SI(M) TI(M) (Urdu: حفاظت اللہ خان) is former three-star general air officer who served as Vice Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS) of Pakistan Air Force from 29 March 2009 till 4 October 2010.^[1]

Air Marshal Hifazat Ullah Khan حفاظت اللہ خان HI(M)  SI(M)  TI(M)
Air Marshal Hifazat Ullah Khan, Instructor at Combat Commanders School (Pakistan Air Force).
Allegiance	Pakistan
Branch	Pakistan Air Force
Years of service	1974–2010
Rank	Air Marshal
Unit	No. 5 Squadron Falcons
Commands	Vice Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS) Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (Personnel) AOC Northern Air Command Base Commander PAF Base Samungli OC No. 33 Tactical Attack Wing No. 5 Squadron Falcons Air attaché in Saudi Arabia
Battles / wars	2001 India-Pakistan standoff 2008 Indo-Pakistan standoff War in North-West Pakistan
Awards	Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military) Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Military) Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (Military)

Education and early life

Hifazat was born in Mianwali. He is a graduate of PAF College Lower Topa where he belonged to V Entry. He then joined the Pakistan Air Force Academy at Risalpur and was commissioned on 25 October 1974 in 58th GD(P) course. He has qualified Staff College and Air War Course from PAF Air War College; L'ESGI and CSI from the École Militaire in France. He holds a M.Sc. in Strategic studies, from Karachi University.^[2]

Air Force career

Air Marshal Hifazat got commissioned in 1974 in General Duties (Pilot) Branch of Pakistan Air Force (PAF). A fighter pilot of Mirage III, he has commanded No. 5 Tactical Attack and Reconnaissance Squadron, No. 33 Tactical Attack Wing as Commanding Officer and has served as flying instructor at the Combat Commanders' School. In staff jobs, he has served as director flight safety and deputy project director JF-17 Thunder programme at the air headquarters. He has commanded an operational air base PAF Base Samungli. Thereafter, he was promoted to two-star general rank in Air Force as Air Vice Marshal and served as director general NAB Frontier. In November 2004, he was appointed air officer commanding Northern Air Command of PAF.

Senior staff appointments in PAF

In March 2006, he was appointed Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (Personnel) and in July 2007, he was promoted to the three-star general rank in the Air Force as Air Marshal. On 29 March 2009 Air Marshal Hifazat Ullah Khan was appointed Vice Chief of the Air Staff of Pakistan Air Force.

External appointments

He has also previously served as Air and Naval Attaché at the Pakistan Embassy in Saudi Arabia.