Air Marshal Saju Balakrishnan assumed the appointment of Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO), at HQ Training Command (TC), at Bengaluru on 08 Mar 22. The Air Marshal is a graduate of National Defence Academy, Pune and was commissioned in the flying branch of IAF as a fighter pilot on 07 June 1986. He is an alumnus of Defence Service Staff College, Wellington and Royal College of Defence Studies, United Kingdom. A Fighter Combat Leader, the Air Officer has more than 3200 hours of accident free flying experience on a variety of aircraft in the inventory of IAF. In his service career of more than 35 years, the Air Marshal has tenanted important command and staff appointments. He has commanded a MiG-21 Squadron and has the distinction of being the first Commanding Officer of AWACS Squadron. He has also commanded a front line Air Force base. He has served as Directing Staff at College of Air Warfare, Secunderabad and Assistant Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff at HQ Integrated Defence Staff. The Air Marshal was Assistant Chief of Air Staff Operations (Air Defence) at Air Headquarters before assuming the present appointment.The Air Officer is a recipient of Vayu Sena Medal and Ati Vishist Seva Medal.
