In a first of its kind move, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, the Chief of Air Staff, asked officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF) “to be prepared for operations with our present holdings, at a very short notice”. He wrote a personal letter to each officer to this effect.
Writing personal letter to officers in the force is rare in the Indian Army. Two Army chiefs, Field Marshal (then General) KM Cariappa and and General K Sundarji have written such letters on May 1, 1950 and February 1, 1986, respectively.

Signed on March 30, the letter covers issues such as “favouritism” in the force and “sexual harassment”. Three months after ACM Dhanoa took over as IAF Chief, the letter is being posted and delivered to each of the nearly 12,000 officers of the force.
“In the present scenario, there is an ever persistent sub-conventional threat. Therefore, we need to be prepared for operations with our present holdings, at a very short notice.
Training needs to be focused towards this,” says the letter.
By “sub-conventional threat” the Air Chief is said to be referring to Pakistan’s ‘proxy war’, reflected in the increasing number of terrorist attacks on military camps and the rising public unrest in Jammu and Kashmir.
The mention in the letter of “our present holdings” is an indication of the severe shortfall in the number of fighter squadrons with the IAF.
The IAF is authorised 42 squadrons of fighter aircraft but its current holding is down to 33. A deal for 36 Rafale fighters, signed with France, and a decision to induct indigenous Tejas fighters will barely make up for the de-induction of the MIG series of fighters from the fleet.
Asking officers to be “combat effective professionals”, ACM Dhanoa writes that “there is no choice but to stay abreast of new technological advancements both own as well as that of our adversaries. Only then will we come out with war-winning, out of the box solutions.”
The letter also reminds officers that “in the recent past, there have been instances and occasions where lack of professionalism has shown the IAF in poor light”.