Current Holders of The Rank
As of 2012, there are 17 living individuals who hold or have held the rank, or its equivalents, of Marshal of the Air Force. Twelve of those are royalty who have been appointed to the rank in a ceremonial capacity, including Queen Sirikit of Thailand, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the current head of state of Malaysia. In the case of Malaysia, the elected Yang di-Pertuan Agong is appointed a Marshal of the Air Force for his tenure as head of state, but relinquishes the rank after completing his term in office. He can, however, be re-appointed to the rank if he later serves another term.
The Duke of Edinburgh holds the ceremonial rank of a Marshal of the Royal Air Force, as well as the honorary ranks of Marshal of the Royal Australian Air Force and Marshal of the Royal New Zealand Air Force; owing to their smaller size, however, neither of the latter two air forces have ever used the rank in an operational capacity. In the case of Canada, although the rank of Marshal of the Royal Canadian Air Force existed on paper until 1968, the Duke of Edinburgh was never appointed to this rank nor to the other Canadian 5-star ranks. In 2012, his son, the Prince of Wales, was appointed to the British rank.
The remaining five holders of the rank were all serving air officers; four of those served as Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal Air Force, and were promoted to the rank of Marshal of the Royal Air Force upon concluding their tenure. Of the four only Lord Criag did not retire at that point as he went on to serve as Chief of the Defence Staff in the rank of Marshal of the RAF. Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh, DFC, served as the first four-star Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force from 1964 to 1969, when he retired. He was promoted to the ceremonial rank of Marshal of the Indian Air Force in 2002, thus making India the only other Commonwealth nation besides the UK to have awarded the rank to an air officer.
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Marshal of the Royal Air Force (United Kingdom)
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Marshal of the Royal Australian Air Force (Australia)
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Marshal of the Royal Thai Air Force (จอมพลอากาศ) (Thailand)
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Marshal of the Air (Marechal do Ar) (Brazil)
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Marshal of the Air Force (Marechal da Força Aérea) (Portugal)
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Marshal of the Indian Air Force (India)
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Marshal of Aviation (Soviet Union)
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