New Delhi, February 01: Air Marshal Joseph Neri will take over as the new Air Officer-in-Charge Maintenance (AOM), tomorrow at Air Headquarters.
The AOM is responsible for ‘Maintenance Management’ of all weapon systems and equipment of Indian Air Force (IAF). He was formerly the Director General of Aircraft at Air Headquarters.
Air Marshal Neri is an Electronic Engineering graduate from College of Engineering, Gindy, Chennai. He was commissioned in the IAF on July 8, 1974, according to a release.
He held various field and staff appointments, including Senior Technical Officer of Tactical and combat Development Establishment (TACDE), Chief Engineering Officer of a major fighter base, Commanding Officer of a Signal Unit and Staff appointments as Director Training and Principal Director Operations-Information Technology and Networking, besides Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Maintenance Planning).
As Senior Maintenance Staff Officer (SMSO) while at South Western Air Command, he was responsible for the operational preparedness of the IAF fleet in the sector. He closely steered the maintenance activities of the nascent Sukhoi-30 fleet to overcome teething problems during his tenure there.
For his distinguished service, he was conferred the Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) on January 26, 1999 and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) on Republic Day this year by President Pratibha Patil.
–PTI