Air Marshal Shivanand has a cumulative flying experience of 2,800 hours on MiG-21 and the IL-76 AWACS. (Express Photo)AIR MARSHAL P V Shivanand assumed charge as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South Western Air Command (SWAC), headquartered in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, on Wednesday. Commissioned into the Fighter stream of the Indian Air Force in December 1988, Shivanand was previously the Senior Air Staff Officer at HQ Central Air Command, a statement said.Air Marshal Shivanand has a cumulative flying experience of 2,800 hours on MiG-21 and the IL-76 AWACS. He has spearheaded the operationalisation of key platforms and several Air Defence initiatives. The SWAC operates over the entire western region across Gujarat Rajasthan and parts of Maharashtra. .The AOC-in-C of SWAC, a three-star rank officer, is the seniormost military commander stationed in Gujarat. The Army and Navy have two-star officers, a Major General and Rear Admiral, stationed in Gujarat.Meanwhile, his predecessor at SWAC, Air Marshal Tejinder Singh, took over as the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC), said the statement.Singh’s appointment as head of the Integrated Defence Staff broke a streak of SWAC chiefs going on to be appointed Vice Chiefs of Air Staff (VCAS) of the Indian Air Force (IAF).Singh’s immediate predecessor at SWAC, Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor had been the second consecutive SWAC chief to be appointed Vice Chief of Air Staff (VCAS) – the 50th – in January 2026. Kapoor’s immediate predecessor at SWAC, Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari, also went on to serve as the 49th Vice Chief of the IAF.