In his address at the Air Force Day parade saturday, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari announced the setting up of a new branch in the officer cadre for the first time since Independence, though a major reorganisation of the branch system was last done in 1971. This new branch represents a much-needed reform. But let us first return to 1932, 90 years to the date, when the IAF was formed.
If you queued up to join the Indian Air Force as an officer in its year of inception, you would have been offered just one choice – to be a pilot.
Since then, the IAF has come a long way. Today, the IAF has nine branches that officer cadets can join – Pilots, Navigators, Technical Officers, and Ground Duties (Administration, Logistics, Accounts, Education, and Meteorology). The IAF’s branches have expanded alongside the force’s evolution and growth to continually adapt and meet the needs of the modern battlefield.
Britain’s war needs
In 1932, the IAF had just one squadron. The General Duties Pilot branch, as it was called then, was based on the lines that existed in the Royal Air Force. All other functions required to support flying were taken care of by airmen (initially called Hawai Sepoys). The headquarters, air bases, and other aspects of managing the Air Forces in India were controlled by the RAF. It meant limited need for IAF personnel and hence fewer branches. It wasn’t until 1941 that the IAF felt the need to expand.
In the early years, the trainees who did not qualify to become pilots were commissioned into the second branch, Equipment, to take care of logistics.
In the second half of 1939, the winds of war were blowing across Europe. Britain required manpower to deal with the demands of WWII and looked to its Indian colony. IAFVR or the Indian Air Force Volunteer Reserve was set up, which led to manifold increase in recruitment.
Nearly all the expanded IAF took part in WWII on the Burma front, some even in Europe. As part of IAFVR, apart from Pilots, officers were commissioned in the General Duties Observers and General Duties Air Gunner branches. Air observers or aerial observers were predominantly tasked with reconnaissance duties. The term was coined by the British Royal Flying Corps in World War 1, and was maintained by its successor, the Royal Air Force. An air observer’s brevet was a single wing with an O at the root.
Just like any intake, there are some who do not make it to pilots. Therefore, a few of the IAFVR members were commissioned into Ground Duties, then called Administration & Special Duties (A&SD branch). Special duties included air traffic control (ATC), photography and cypher for instance.
Period of expansion
Between 1939 and 1942, the IAF saw a massive expansion – growing from just one to six squadrons. To accommodate this increased size, numerous training institutions for officers and airmen were set up. It was here that proliferation of other branches took place across the officer cadre in 1942-43. It was but natural that the first choice of officers for these roles were the airmen, who were already playing some of these roles. This eliminated training time and retained training manpower. The IAF did not see the need and therefore did not have any establishments to induct or train for ground duties.
The branches that got set up in this period were Education, Accounts, a specific branch called Balloon, and four branches in the technical field – Signals, Armament, Electrical, and Engineering. Unknown to most in the IAF, there was a fifth technical branch called Radar, referred to as T/Rad. But it seems to have merged into Sigs around 1947 and therefore was forgotten.
The independent Balloon branch was first formed to look after the balloon barrages erected round vulnerable points to trap low-flying enemy aircraft, a concept that was used extensively during the World War 2 in Europe, but its utility waned soon after and the branch was discontinued in 1945.
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Meeting new requirements
Such expansion of force and services created challenges in recruitment of trained manpower and the IAF had to rely on services of other government agencies as well. For instance, the IAF did not have any Meteorology expertise or manpower. Prior to the 1940s, Meteorology was handled by the RAF/IMD. In 1943, the IAF started to have commissioned officers in the Meteorology branch. All these officers were deputed from the IMD. In fact, direct recruitment into Meteorology did not happen until much after 1947.
Similarly, air traffic and aerodrome management skills were in short supply. The IAF deputed “aerodrome officers” from civil aviation for a while in the 1940s to meet the needs. They were part of the A&SD branch. As a result of these arrangements, the officer cadre in the IAF outside of pilots tended to be short service commission and also significantly older. For instance, many officers of the ground duties branches were commissioned as pilot officers well into their 40s.
The IAF also had a distinct Legal branch with officers commissioned for the role. This branch was merged into A&SD around 1949. In 1946, the system of Observers was stopped and Navigators as a stream was introduced. So, GD(O) became GD(N) and erstwhile GD(O) officers underwent a conversion course.
At its peak, just before the 1971 War, there were as many as 14 branches in the IAF. This system continued till 1 September, when under Air Chief Marshal Pratap Chandra Lal, a reorganisation took place. General Duties was replaced with the word Flying. So GD(P) became F(P) and GD(N) became F(N). A&SD was renamed as ADM (Administration) and predominantly had three duties – Administration, Air Traffic Control, and Fighter Controller. Equipment was renamed as Logistics. Technical branches were consolidated into two branches. Armament + Engineering became Aeronautical Engineering (Mechanical) and Signals + Electrical became Aeronautical Engineering (Electrical). Meteorological, Education, and Accounts continued as is.
The IAF did not have its own medical and dental officers who were, 1941 onwards, deputed from Army Medical Corps. However, on such deputation, the officer was given a commission in the IAF under the “medical” or “dental” branch. The first Medical officers were commissioned in January 1941. Dental came in much later in 1956.
No significant changes to the branch structure have occurred since 1971, until today. The new Weapon Systems branch will combine four streams – Surface-to-Surface Missiles, Surface-to-Air Missiles, Remotely Piloted Aircraft (drones), and Weapon System Operators. In effect, this is an important step in making the IAF future ready as it recognises the need to recruit, groom and grow talent in the organisation focussed on these streams.
Anchit Gupta is a military aviation historian. He tweets @anchitgupta9. Views are personal.