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NEW DELHI: A husband-wife combination of three-star generals is extremely rare. When Sadhna Saxena Nair was promoted to the rank of Air Marshal in the IAF on Monday, the Nairs attained that exceptional distinction.
Air Marshal Sadhna Nair, a doctor who took over as the director-general of hospital services (armed forces) on Monday, joined her husband Air Marshal K P Nair, a fighter pilot who retired as the IAF director-general of inspection and flight safety in 2015. “They are the first and only Air Marshal couple in the IAF,” an officer said.
The Nairs follow the Kanitkars who became the first couple to have achieved the high rank of three-star officers in the armed forces in 2020. In the Army, Lt-Gen Madhuri Kanitkar, also a doctor, had then joined her husband Lt-Gen Rajeev Kanitkar, an armoured corps officer who retired as quartermaster general in 2017, as was reported by TOI.
Air Marshal Sadhna Nair also has the distinction of three generations of her family having served in the IAF in the last seven decades. Her father and brother were also doctors in the IAF, while her son is a fighter pilot (Ft Lieutenant).
The principal medical officer at the IAF Training Command at Bengaluru in her last appointment, Air Marshal Sadhna Nair is only the second woman officer who has served throughout in the IAF (military doctors can be posted to another service) to be promoted to the rank of Air Marshal. The first was Air Marshal Padma Bandopadhyay (retd). Another woman doctor who reached the three-star rank was Surgeon Vice Admiral Punita Arora (retd) in the Navy. After graduating from the Armed Forces Medical College at Pune, Air Marshal Sadhna Nair was commissioned into the IAF in December 1985.
Air Marshal Sadhna Nair, a doctor who took over as the director-general of hospital services (armed forces) on Monday, joined her husband Air Marshal K P Nair, a fighter pilot who retired as the IAF director-general of inspection and flight safety in 2015. “They are the first and only Air Marshal couple in the IAF,” an officer said.
The Nairs follow the Kanitkars who became the first couple to have achieved the high rank of three-star officers in the armed forces in 2020. In the Army, Lt-Gen Madhuri Kanitkar, also a doctor, had then joined her husband Lt-Gen Rajeev Kanitkar, an armoured corps officer who retired as quartermaster general in 2017, as was reported by TOI.
Air Marshal Sadhna Nair also has the distinction of three generations of her family having served in the IAF in the last seven decades. Her father and brother were also doctors in the IAF, while her son is a fighter pilot (Ft Lieutenant).
The principal medical officer at the IAF Training Command at Bengaluru in her last appointment, Air Marshal Sadhna Nair is only the second woman officer who has served throughout in the IAF (military doctors can be posted to another service) to be promoted to the rank of Air Marshal. The first was Air Marshal Padma Bandopadhyay (retd). Another woman doctor who reached the three-star rank was Surgeon Vice Admiral Punita Arora (retd) in the Navy. After graduating from the Armed Forces Medical College at Pune, Air Marshal Sadhna Nair was commissioned into the IAF in December 1985.
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