Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: In a first, a husband-wife duo has both reached the rank of Air Marshal in the IAF. Sadhna Saxena Nair, who was promoted to the rank of Air Marshal in the Indian Air Force on October 23, took over as directorgeneral of hospital services (armed forces). Her husband, Air Marshal K P Nair, a retired fighter pilot, had previously served as directorgeneral of inspection and flight safety in the IAF.
This unique achievement marks them as the first and only Air Marshal couple in the IAF. The Nairs now join the ranks of the Kanitkars, who in 2020 became the first couple to attain the rank of threestar generals in the armed forces.
Lt-Gen Madhuri Kanitkar, also a doctor, served alongside her husband Lt-Gen Rajeev Kanitkar, an armoured corps officer who retired as quartermaster general in 2017.
Air Marshal Sadhna Nair’s father and brother were doctors in the IAF, while her son serves as a fighter pilot (Flight Lieutenant). Notably, she is the second woman officer who has consistently served in the IAF throughout her career (military doctors can be posted to another service).
After her graduation from the Armed Forces Medical College,Pune, Air Marshal Sadhna Nair was commissioned into the IAF in December 1985.
Her credentials include a postgraduate degree in family medicine, and she has undertaken specialised courses in medical informatics at AIIMS in New Delhi, as well as training in CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear) warfare and military medical ethics in Switzerland.
