TheChief of the Army Staffis the commander and usually the highest-ranking officer of theIndian Army. The position is abbreviated asCOASin Indian Army cables and communication, and usually held by a4-star officerin the rank ofGeneral.The current COAS isGeneralDalbir Singh Suhag, who took office on 31 July 2014 following retirement ofGeneralBikram Singh

TheChief of the Naval Staffis the commander and typically the highest-ranking officer in theIndian Navy. The position is abbreviatedCNSin Indian Navy cables and communication. The rank associated with the position is usually that ofAdmiral.The 21st Chief of the Naval StaffAdmiralD K Joshi, who took office on 31 August 2012 after replacingAdmiralNirmal Kumar Vermaresigned on 26 February 2014, owning moral responsibility forwarship and submarine accidentsover the past six months.[1][2]Accordingly Vice Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral R.K. Dhowan took over as the acting chief and was appointed Chief of the Naval Staff on 17 April 2014

Chief of the Air Staffis the head of theIndian Air Force.[1][2]Currently the position is held byAir Chief MarshalArup Raha.[3]The position was held by anAir Commodore(19191923), by anAir Vice-Marshal(19231929) and by anAir Marshal(19291965). In 1966, the position was upgraded to that of an Air Chief Marshal. The highest rank in the IAF isMarshal of the Air Force, which is conferred by thePresident of Indiaonly in exceptional circumstances. It has only been given once in January 2002 toArjan Singh. The rank is equal to five star General and aField Marshalin the Army.