Air
Chief Marshal Farooq Feroze Khan, NI(M), SBt, (born August
17, 1939) is a retired Pakistan Air Force officer who
commanded the PAF from 1991 to 1994 and then the Military of
Pakistan as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee from
1994 to 1997. He was the first, and to date the only, air
force officer to accomplish this task.
Farooq Feroze Khan joined the PAF after completing his
Senior Cambridge from PAF Public School Sargodha where he
belonged to 1st entry (69 – Fury House). He was selected for
training at the USAF Academy and on return, was commissioned
in the PAF in January 4, 1959 in the 27th GD(P) Course.
He
has flown all the aircraft in the PAF inventory and even the
Hunters, which he flew while on attachment to Royal Air
Force.
A graduate of Flight Leaders School, Khan has commanded No.
9 Squadron, No. 33 Wing, and two fighter bases; Sargodha
Airbase and Masroor Airbase. He also has the distinction of
commanding a Fighter Wing in the United Arab Emirates Air
Force for three years.
Some of his staff appointments included Personal Staff
Officer to the Chief of Air Staff, Assistant Commandant of
Air War College, Senior Air Staff Officer at the Southern
Air Command, ACAS (Plans), DCAS (Operations) and Vice Chief
of Air Staff. He was seconded to the Pakistan International
Airlines as Chairman/MD before assuming command of the PAF
in 1991.
ACM Farooq Feroze Khan assumed the command of PAF at a
difficult time. The Pressler Amendment had just been
enforced and all the plans made for the restructuring of the
Force had to be changed. He undertook the review and oversaw
the induction of Australian Mirages, their upgrade, and the
induction of F-7s. He also launched the search for a hi-tech
weapon system in lieu of the F-16s that had been denied. he
ensured the smooth amalgamation of the engineering branches,
reorganized the Personnel Branch, and injected new life into
the Inspectorate system by creating the post of Inspector
General with wide ranging powers.
He was decorated with Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military),
Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military), Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Military) and
Sitara-e-Basalat. He was CAS for three years and eight
months before becoming CJCSC for three years from 1994 to
1997.
